Impossible
by m. diddy
Summary: Liz is forced to move in with her aunt in Forks after her father's death and is determined to not like it until she meets Seth Clearwater. Suddenly, she's pulled into a world of supernatural myths. Full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to play in it from time to time. I do own whatever you don't recognize, though.

**A/N:** So I really shouldn't be starting another story right now but this thing popped up in my head about a week ago and pretty much jumped up and down on my brain, screaming and whatnot until I finally decided to let it out. And so… here it is. It will probably be AU in about a month but that's ok. Just to clear this up, this starts the November right after Eclipse and goes on what I think (or actually kind of wish) will happen in Breaking Dawn: Bella + Edward got married and then left Forks right after the wedding. So please review and let me know what you think!

**Summary:** Liz is forced to move in with her aunt in Forks after her father's death and is determined to not like it until she meets Seth Clearwater. Suddenly, she's pulled into a world of supernatural myths and when a group of super-powered vampires called The Volturi show up, she doesn't think she can make it to her seventeenth birthday alive.

**Chapter 1**

"Miss, are you sure alright?" the elderly woman beside me asked for what felt like the hundredth time. I didn't get what it was with this woman. Why couldn't she be like the normal people on airplanes who determinedly ignored whoever was sitting next to them?

"I'm fine," I said, harsher than necessary. I didn't mean to be a bitch but, really. This woman was getting on my last nerve, and that was not even mentioning the fact that she smelled like old moldy cheese. And not the good French kind, either.

She frowned at me, probably thinking something about how back in her day (when Jesus still walked the earth, probably), youngsters respected their elders. And every lawn was encased in a white picket fence and milk only cost a nickel. I'm sure everyone's heard the nostalgic ramblings of the elderly enough to know that life was never actually like that, that's just something they like to imagine so they can try to guilt younger people into being nicer to them. Never mind the fact that she was butting her nose into something that was definitely **not** her business. Then she pulled out a pocket pack of Kleenex and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I muttered, sounding a bit like a sulking child. I knew I was being rude but I just wanted to be left alone in my thoughts. I pulled one of the tissues out and wiped my tear-stained cheeks and then blew my nose.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked kindly. It was actually physically hard, stopping myself from rolling my eyes. I had to remind myself that despite the smell, this woman was being very nice to a perfect stranger and that wasn't something that normally happened. But what did she expect, that I would tell her my whole life story and then we would braid each other's hair and maybe ask the flight attendants if they could replay that Drew Barrymore film that had been shown earlier in the flight? God, why couldn't she just take the fucking hint already?

Thankfully, the pilot saved me from replying. He had come on the intercom to let us know that we were starting our descent into Seattle, so could we please put our trays and seats into the upright position. I just sighed and turned away from the woman, looking out the window at the wall of grey clouds below us. I still couldn't believe that I had been sent here, three thousand one hundred and eighty four miles away from home, the day after my father's funeral. I mean, I didn't even get a day to adjust, mope around or even pack. Of course, I understood why I had to leave but that didn't make it okay. My mother couldn't even take care of herself so no one wanted to entrust her with a child, even if I was her only daughter but it's not like I couldn't take care of myself. My father wasn't exactly Mr. Involved. In fact, he had spent the last six months locked in his bedroom and I had been perfectly fine. But unfortunately for me, the state of Massachusetts looks down on sixteen year olds living without (responsible) adult supervision, so I was being shipped off to Nowheresville, Washington to live with Emma, my aunt.

I had only met Emma once before. She was my father's older, very much older, sister. They weren't close at all. She had only come to Boston once, to celebrate Christmas with us when I was seven, and her and my father had gotten into a huge argument over something stupid. And then we had never heard from her again. Frankly, I was surprised when my mother told me that I would be living with her in a small town called Forks. She was divorced nurse and her only son, my cousin Ben, had moved to California a couple years earlier. Maybe she felt bad for me. Maybe this was her way of making up for the fact that she hadn't spoken to me or my father since I was seven. Or maybe she was just lonely and that was why she had opened her door to me. All I knew was that I had to finish high school on the wrong coast, away from all of my friends.

When we finally landed, I got as far away from the moldy cheese lady as fast as I possibly could. I found Emma waiting by the luggage carousel and was struck by how much she looked like my father. She had the same thin red hair, the same amount of freckles spattered across her face, and the same tall, lanky build. The only difference was her eyes. She had deep green eyes while my father had had clear blue eyes. "Liz!" she called when she saw me. She waved then, as if she didn't think I would recognize her or realize she was the one who had just called my name.

I sighed again and walked over to her. "Hi, Aunt Emma," I said, putting my carry-on bag on the ground.

She grinned at me, eyeing my wet cheeks. "How are you doing, kid?"

I shrugged. "As good as I can be, I guess." I said, avoiding eye contact with her by staring hard at the black suitcase that was passing by us.

This tactic didn't seem to work, though. She grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a hug. I didn't return it; instead I chose to glare at the flashing light on top the carousel, indicating that it was on. I wasn't a very physical person. I didn't like it when people touched me unexpectedly, and I really didn't like it when I didn't want them to touch me at all. I was very thankful when I saw both of my dark blue suitcases passing by. I forcefully removed myself from the unwanted embrace and grabbed them. Then she led me to her station wagon in the parking lot and helped me load my things into the back without trying to hug me again.

Once we were on the road, she turned to me and smiled. "I hope you're ready for a long car ride. It's about four hours to Forks."

I forced myself to smile back at her and said, "I'm sure it'll be better than the plane ride."

"Was it that bad?" she asked sympathetically.

"There was a very nosy old lady who smelled funny," I said, settling in for the car ride. "She wouldn't leave me alone. She didn't even stop for the in flight movie."

Emma laughed at that. "Well, I might be a nosy old lady but at least I don't smell funny," she joked. I forced out a laugh and stared out the window as I watched Seattle, the closest actual city to Forks, pass us by. She turned to me after she had maneuvered through the city traffic and said, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral. I really couldn't get enough time off work… and I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for you here."

"It's fine," I said. "It turns out that not a lot of people could make it." She threw me a look of pity and I shrugged it off. "I hope you didn't go to a lot of trouble. You didn't need to."

"Of course I did," she said, smiling at me again. "I want you to feel at home here."

"Like that will happen," I muttered.

She must have heard me because she scowled and said, "Elizabeth, I know you don't like it but you will be staying here until you graduate next June."

"But why?" I asked. "I could have stayed with my mom in Boston and –"

She interrupted me then. "You know as well as I do that your mother was in no condition to watch you. The woman can barely look after herself."

"But **I** can look after **myself**," I argued. "I've been doing it for years. It's not like it would be any different!"

"But you shouldn't have to look after yourself!" she said forcefully. "You're only fifteen –"

"Sixteen," I corrected her. "I'm sixteen."

She shot me a confused look. "But you're birthday's not until –"

I interrupted her this time. "November ninth, remember? That was yesterday. My birthday was yesterday."

"Oh, Lizzie," she said, giving me that pitying look again. "I'm so sorry. I completely forgot."

"It's fine," I said again.

"No, it's not," she said. "You know, I could take you out tomorrow and we could celebrate. That would be fun, wouldn't it?"

I sighed again. "I guess. You don't have to go to all that trouble, though. I mean, it's enough that you're letting me stay here."

She smiled at me. "It's no trouble at all. It's like I was saying, you should be able to have fun and be a kid. It's not right that you've had to take care of yourself. It was wrong of your father to put you in that situation."

I couldn't stop myself from wincing at that. She was right but it still hurt to hear her talking badly about my father. Instead of responding, I turned and watched as we passed what seemed like millions of trees. They were so tall too, and covered in moss. I had never seen trees like that on the east coast. Everything here was so green, it was kind of disorienting. I could see it now, that things would be completely different from the way they used to be. My aunt seemed intent on letting me be a "kid," whatever that meant.

"All of your things arrived this morning," Emma said, breaking the silence of the last couple hours. We had finally reached Forks, or at least that's what that Welcome sign had said. "I wasn't able to paint Ben's room though. I wasn't sure what color you would have wanted, anyways."

"I'm sure it's fine," I said. I felt like a broken record. "You didn't have to do anything, Aunt Emma. I don't want to be a burden."

"You could never be a burden, Liz," she said. Again with the eyes that clearly said she felt bad for me. She was really going to have to stop with that. I didn't want her pity, I just wanted to get back on a plane to Boston and pretend that this had never happened. She pulled up in front of two-story grey house and smiled. "Well, here it is," she said. "Home sweet home." She grabbed one of my suitcases and led me up the walkway to the dark red front door, which opened up into a large room done in shades of blue. And that was all I saw before a massive _thing_ knocked me over and started slobbering all over me.

I shrieked as I fell to the ground and Emma seemed to find that amusing. She pulled the beast off of me and said, "Sorry Liz. Sophie gets a little overexcited when she meets someone new."

"A little?" I said sarcastically, wiping the drool off of my face. "What is that thing?"

"Saint Bernard," Emma said, proudly. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back up to my feet. "She doesn't realize her own size, but if she tries to jump on you again, just push her off. She's a tough dog, she can take it."

"You didn't say there would be a dog," I said darkly.

"I'm sorry," Emma apologized again. "I got her after Ben left. It won't be a problem, will it?"

It was a problem, actually, because I hated dogs. But I didn't want to make things worse. "No," I said, backing as far from the dog as I could get (which wasn't very far since the thing was _ginormous_). "I just don't really like dogs all that much."

Emma laughed and started petting it. "Oh, it's impossible not to like Sophie. She's just the sweetest dog ever." And then she started talking to it in that annoying voice adults always had when they talked to babies. I rolled my eyes and finally got to look around the room we had walked into. The paint was a light blue color with a darker blue sofa in the middle of the room. There was a television set up opposite it and I noticed some of the furniture I had shipped here next to it. Emma had finally finished talking to the dog at that point. "That bookcase… thing wouldn't fit in your bedroom so I decided to put it in here. Those smaller spaces are for DVDs, right?" I nodded while I tried not to laugh. I didn't bother to correct her, either. The bookcase hadn't exactly been mine but I couldn't really see the harm in taking it. It's not like my father would be using it. "Good," she said, laughing at herself. "I hope you don't mind, I decided to get rid of my DVD rack and just put mine in there."

"It's fine," I said, looking around the room some more. My cousin's school pictures were on the wall, along with ones of my aunt and people I didn't know. There was even one that had been taken that Christmas in Boston of the whole family.

"I left the boxes you had marked as books and DVDs out here because I figured you'd want to put them in there. Don't rush in unpacking them, though. Take all the time you need. Now come on," Emma said, motioning for me to follow her. "I'll show you the rest of the house." She led me into a smaller dining room and an incredibly large kitchen. I hadn't realized that my aunt had this kind of money. I mean, a house like this must have been expensive. Then she took me upstairs, pointed out the master bedroom and then showed me my room.

I smiled as I looked it over. It was large, larger than the room I had in my father's apartment in Boston and it was painted a dark blue color. My full-sized bed was pushed up against the far wall, right under two windows and my desk was across from it. There was a plushy blue chair in the corner and a dresser next to it. The boxes I had shipped here were piled in the middle of the room. "Do you like it?" Emma asked nervously.

"I love it," I said, walking into the room.

"I'm glad," Emma said, a wide grin crossing her face. "Well, the bathroom in the hallway is yours. I don't use it since I have one connected to my room. I've already enrolled you in Forks High so you can start on Monday. Oh and I invited my friend Sue to dinner tonight. I thought maybe it could be a bit of a Welcome Home thing, you know?"

"Sue?" I asked, not really paying attention to her. I had already grabbed the box labeled 'Desk' and was trying to tear the packaging tape off.

"Yeah, we used to work at the hospital together until she got her nurse practitioner license a couple years ago. Now she works at the clinic in La Push but we've kept in touch," Emma said. It sounded like she was gathering up steam to give me the full, unabridged version of Sue's life story and I knew I had to stop her.

"La Push?" I asked, turning around to look at her. "Where's that?"

"It's the Quileute reservation on the coast," she said. "It's really nice, I'll have to take you there soon."

"Yeah," I grinned. I had escaped hearing all about this Sue. "When's dinner?"

Emma looked down at her watch and said, "They should be here in about three hours."

"They?" I asked, confused. "I thought you said Sue was coming." Sue was definitely not a they.

"Yes," Emma said. "Sue and her two children. Her son's around your age, I think, or maybe a little younger. And Leah, her daughter, is nineteen now. I'm sure you'll love them."

"Oh," I said. I turned back to the box I had finally gotten open and rifled through it until I found the speakers for my iPod.

"Alright," Emma said, watching me. "I guess I'll leave you to your unpacking. Just remember to be ready by six, ok?"

I nodded and then followed her out of the room to grab my carry-on bag. My two suitcases full of clothes and some of the other things I couldn't ship earlier were still in the living room. They were incredibly heavy and I didn't know how I was going to get them upstairs without scratching my aunt's nice hardwood floors so I decided to leave them for now. Once I was back in my room, I plugged my iPod in, turned on some music and started unpacking. It wasn't exactly my favorite thing in the world to do, in fact, I hated unpacking but I hated living out of boxes and the clutter they seemed to bring even more. So I was trying to put things away as neatly and quickly as I could. And that was how I had managed to unpack all the boxes in my room in only two and a half hours.

I decided to take a quick shower after that since speedy unpacking can really make me sweat and I was pretty sure I was starting to smell like the moldy cheese lady. Once I was done, I couldn't stop myself from looking in the mirror. It was so weird. I had realized that things would be completely different here on the ride to Forks and I almost expected that change to show physically, but I looked exactly the same. I still had the same wavy light brown that fell to the middle of my back. I even still had the blonde streaks that had appeared over the summer from the sun, although I doubted I would have those for much longer. Forks was in the Olympic Peninsula, which was one of the rainiest places in the whole world. I doubt I'd even seen the sun more than ten times in the next two years. And I was still incredibly small, barely clearing five feet and weighing only a little over one hundred pounds. Maybe I should do something to make the change more external… if only I could grow half a foot. I guess I'd have to settle with cutting my hair or getting those colored contacts. Maybe Emma could help.

There was a loud knocking at the door and then Emma was screaming, "Hurry up, Liz! They're almost here!"

I hurried out of the bathroom and ran smack into Sophie, the canine wall. I had to grab onto the wall to stop myself from falling over, nearly dropping my towel in the process. "Stupid flipping beast," I muttered, trying to get past her. I still couldn't believe how _big_ the dog was, her head was practically at my chest. She followed me down the hall and had gotten into the room before I could slam the door in her face. I sighed. "Don't get used to this room, dog," I said as I started looking for something decent to wear. "This will be the only time you'll get in here, I promise you that." I finally decided on a pair of worn dark blue jeans and a grey and navy striped button down sweater with a white tank underneath. "Come on, you beast," I said as I put my hair up in a ponytail. "It's time to leave now." Unfortunately, she simply refused to budge off my bed. Let me tell you, I was extremely thankful that I hadn't put the sheets on it yet.

I headed down to the kitchen. "Aunt Emma," I called. "I can't get Sophie out of my room. Could you call her or something?" I stopped short when I walked into the kitchen and saw that there were two women with Emma. They both turned when I walked into the room and looked at me curiously. I could tell that it was Sue and her daughter, Leah, because they looked so similar. They both had dark black hair, dark brown eyes and the same copper colored skin. One of them looked distinctly older, though, with laugh lines and a few wrinkles on her forehead. The younger one looked like she should be on a runway. Her skin was simply flawless, her hair seemed to shine even in the dull kitchen light and she was just so tall. She must have been at least six feet and what was worse, she had what seemed to be the perfect body. I felt hideous just being in the same room as her.

"Liz, this is Sue and Leah," Emma smiled, gesturing to the two women like I hadn't figured it out already.

"Hi," I said shyly.

Sue smiled kindly at me and then pulled me into an awkward hug. "It's so great to finally meet you, Liz. Emma's told me so much about you."

I pulled away almost immediately and smiled. "Good things, I hope."

"Of course," she said, still smiling. She turned back to Emma then and asked her how things were at the hospital.

I turned to look at Leah and noticed that she was looking me over. It was almost as if she was sizing me up, although I doubted I would be up to her standards. Someone that looked like that must only hang out with other beautiful people. I smiled at her and she narrowed her eyes and turned away. It was very clear that she was not interested in even speaking to me. I really hope Emma didn't plan on throwing us together a lot because Leah didn't seem friendly in the least. I walked over to the counter, where the other three women were congregating, and smiled shyly at them.

"So where's Seth?" Emma asked as she started pulling things out.

"Oh, he had to work later than he thought," Sue said, sharing a weird look with Leah. "He might be able to have one of his friends drop him off later, though."

"When did Seth get a job?" Emma asked, confused.

"The beginning of the summer," Sue said.

"Who hired him? Isn't he a little young to be working?" Emma asked, still confused.

"Sam Uley did," Leah said. "He's got Seth doing odd jobs for him around the rez. But it's off the books so... don't say anything to any tax officials."

"Oh," Emma said. She was giving Leah that look now, the 'I-feel-so-awful-for-you' look complete with the overabundance of pity that she had thrown at me more than once today. But why would she feel bad for Leah if her brother had a job? This town was stranger than I thought.

Leah continued to completely ignore me, no matter how many times Emma tried to start a conversation between us. I could tell by the obvious disappointment on Emma and Sue's faces that they had been hoping we would be best friends by the end of the night. Instead, I was forced to listen to my aunt prattle on about Forks Hospital and how awful it's been since some doctor left. It was the strangest thing, when Emma mentioned that doctor, I think his name was Cullen, Leah got the biggest scowl on her face, clearly showing her dislike for this doctor (although I don't think there were many people that Leah actually liked). And then Sue changed the subject quickly, clearly not wanting to talk anymore about this Cullen. It was all very suspicious.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Hey Leah," I said, talking to her for the first time that night. "Come into the living room with me, I want to show you something." She glared but consented, following me into the living room. "Sorry, I just couldn't take it anymore in there," I explained once we were in the living room. "It was really awkward."

Leah actually smiled at that. "They seem to think that all everyone they're close with should be super best friends or something. You don't know how many times they tried to set me up with Ben."

"Before he came out, I hope," I laughed. I might have forgotten to mention that. Emma's son, Ben, had come out of the closet around three years ago now. It had all been very shocking for my family. I actually think that might have been the reason why he had moved out of the house, although I'm not sure. I didn't want to bring it up in case Emma was still a little sore about it.

Leah laughed too. I couldn't believe that we were actually having a civil conversation. I guess it goes to show that you can not force people together, you have to let them do it on their own. "Actually, it was before and after. They didn't give up until I started dating someone else." She stopped laughing abruptly and frowned. So much for the civil conversation, I guess. An awkward silence filled the room then. Leah grabbed the television remote and turned on some generic cop drama. I don't even think she was watching it, she looked more like she was lost in her thoughts than the show's storyline. I tried watching it but it couldn't hold my attention. After a couple minutes, I got up and tore open the boxes in the living room and started unpacking. Like I said, the clutter that those boxes make can really bother me sometimes. After that stupid show had ended, the doorbell rang, surprising both Leah and I. "Finally," Leah muttered, getting up.

She made her way towards the door but Emma came racing from the kitchen and got there first. She threw it open and said, "Seth! I was starting to think you were going to miss my dinner!"

I heard a voice say, "You know I would never do that, Emma."

She moved out of the way and I saw _him_ for the first time. And, ok, I know it's starting to sound like a broken record. I'm getting sick of it too. It's like it's all anyone has been able to say since my father killed himself. _Things will be different now._ Or even the dreaded _Everything's going to change._ It drove me nuts. I didn't want things to be different and I certainly didn't want anything to change. They were perfectly fine the way they were. And that was why I could only see these changes as bad, horrendous even. But meeting Seth Clearwater opened my eyes to the fact that some changes can be good.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer and I am only playing in it. I do own the characters you don't recognize, though.

**A/N:** Thank you to Lecia for the review! I hope you like this chapter as well. And I hope everyone else reading this will review as well . I'd really like to know what you guys think about this story, even if you hate it and wish I would just stop writing forever or something.

**Chapter 2**

The first thing I noticed about Seth Clearwater was that he was_ tall_. I mean, I thought his sister was freakishly tall but he had a good four or five inches on her. And his body had that lanky quality to it, as if he had just recently had a major growth spurt and his body hadn't had time to adjust yet. He had the same glossy black hair as his beautiful sister, although his somehow managed to stick up in all directions even though it was cut short, and the same beautiful copper-toned skin. But his eyes were different. Leah's eyes were so dark that they were almost black while his were just a warm brown. They were deep too… it felt as if they were pulling me in and I would never be able to come up for air again. And he had this huge, happy grin on his face that could make anyone (even Leah) smile back.

"I swear, you get taller every time I see you," Emma said, pulling him into a hug that was quite awkward considering he was a good foot taller than she was. Once she let him go, she turned to Sue and smiled. "You aren't feeding him steroids, are you?"

Sue laughed at that. "Of course not."

"It's just a growth spurt," Seth said, still smiling that goofy smile. I was starting think his face was permanently stuck that way,

"Some growth spurt," my aunt muttered. Then she turned to me and waved for me to come closer. "Liz, this is Seth, Sue's son. Seth, this is my niece, Liz."

Seth noticed me for the first time when I made my way over to him and he finally stopped smiling. It was so weird. He was very obviously staring at me and it was making me feel very awkward. He had this expression of shock and pure bewilderment on his face. It was almost as if he had never seen a girl before. "Hi," I said softly, fighting the blush that was rising up my neck. I couldn't explain why but I felt naked under his eyes, as if he could see right through my pretenses to the real me underneath, as cliché as that sounds. I looked around the room then, trying to find something to distract me. Emma looked incredibly confused so I guess this wasn't the way Seth normally acted. Sue had an excited smile on her face and she kept looking from Seth to me and then back again. Even Leah was watching us with veiled interest.

I was really starting to wonder about this family.

And I really wanted him to stop staring at me.

Leah seemed to notice the panicked look on my face. "Seth," she said pointedly. That seemed to finally get his attention. He shook his head and then looked over at her, fear written all over his face. "Let's go get something to drink." She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him into the kitchen, shooting her mom a meaningful glance as she passed her. God, this family seemed to talk more with their eyes than they did with their words. It was starting to annoy me. There was no reason why they couldn't just come right out and say it. I'm sure Emma wouldn't judge them, her bond with Sue seemed too strong, and who cares what I thought? I planned on getting out of this town the day after I graduated, which was a year and a half from now, and then promptly forgetting my stay here.

Sue watched them go and looked as if she wanted nothing more than to go in there with them. But then she turned me and smiled, again. But this smile was different. It wasn't the kind smile that I had gotten before, in the kitchen, but a super excited smile. It was so wide that I was afraid it would break her face. "So," she said, "Emma said you two are going to celebrate your birthday tomorrow?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess we are," I said. I didn't really see how that was a question. It's not like I knew if Emma had told her that. But her voice had gone up at the end and I was desperately hoping she wasn't going to force her two strange children on us.

"You should come by La Push," she said excitedly. "Seth and Leah's friends have been talking about having a bonfire on the beach. It'll probably be the last one they can have this year."

"That sounds like a great idea," Emma said, smiling at me in encouragement. "You could meet some more kids your age!"

I didn't know what to say. I mean, I really didn't want to go but I couldn't be rude to this woman since she was Emma's closest friend. And unfortunately there really isn't a polite way to say '_No way, lady, your whole family is creeping me the fuck out_.' So I just nodded and said, "That sounds like fun."

"Oh, this is great," Emma said. She started talking about specifics, when we should go there and if she should bring a birthday cake. I tuned them out and made my way back to the bookcase in the corner. I wondered if there was anyway I could get out of this. To be honest, all I wanted to do tomorrow was mope around and pity myself for the fact that I was here in East Jesus Nowhere, Washington. And partaking in a good dose of self-pity did not include a bonfire on the beach. Maybe I could fake an illness.

"Need some help?" Seth asked, suddenly very close to me. I hadn't even noticed Emma and Sue leaving the room and I definitely hadn't heard him come in. I jumped and then took a step back. He really needed to learn a thing or two about personal space. "Sorry," he said, smiling that big grin again. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok," I said. The way he was looking at me made me blush. It was very intense, like he never wanted to look away or something. It was weird. I had never been looked at that way before and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. No guy had ever even looked at me twice. It was one of the drawbacks of being so petite, I had the body of a twelve year old. I am not even exaggerating. I have absolutely no curves and my boobs are only now starting to grow in. And guys back east, well, they weren't into that.

He held out his hand and then said, "I'm Seth." He almost sounded nervous, but I could be wrong.

I laughed then. "I know," I said, looking down at his hand.

"Oh, right," he said, pulling his hand back and looking down at his feet. He must have been really embarrassed because the blush on his cheeks was obvious.

I felt bad then. I mean, I didn't want to embarrass him so I decided to make some small talk. "So, you're from La Push, right?"

"Yeah," he smiled.

I couldn't help smiling back. "Is that far from Forks?"

"It's only like twenty-five minutes. Fifteen if Leah's driving." I nodded and bit my lip, not really knowing what to say to that. "So, do you want some help? You've got a lot of books in there," he said, nodding towards the box at my feet.

"Sure," I said, smiling shyly at him. So this Seth might have been a little strange but I was starting to like him.

"Emma said you're from Boston?" he asked. I nodded. "That's pretty different from here, huh?"

"Definitely," I said. I turned and saw that he was watching me instead of actually putting the books away. "Have you ever been there?"

He shook his head. "Leah wanted to go to college out there before, to Northeastern. I read all the pamphlets she used to get about the city, you know? It seemed nice."

"It is. I can't wait to go back," I said sadly.

"You plan to go back?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

"As soon as I graduate. There's no way I can stay here." I looked over at him then and he looked so sad, as if I had just kicked his puppy or something. "You can come if you want."

One corner of his mouth pulled up in a half-smile. "I think I might. But you know, it's not as bad here as you think."

"I don't believe that," I said.

Emma came out then. "I see she's put you to work, Seth," she said, smiling at us. She was giving us this knowing look and I just knew she was planning on cooking something up with Sue that would probably end with Seth and I being happily married with five kids. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her. I could only hope this wouldn't end up like their previous schemes with Leah.

"Yeah," he laughed. "She's a real slave driver, this one."

"Well, I've come to spring you," she grinned. "Come on, dinner's ready."

We followed her into the kitchen and sat around the kitchen for dinner. Nobody really talked during it. It was actually kind of awkward, Sue kept giving me this excited, knowing look while Emma looked a little put out. I think that she knew Sue was keeping something from her and she was none too pleased about it. Seth was back to staring at me while Leah watched us both from the corner of her eyes. I felt like there was something really big going on and I was completely missing it. Once it was finally over, I escaped to my bedroom on the pretense of getting my suitcases out of the way by bringing them upstairs. I hadn't realized that Seth had followed me until he grabbed both of them and carried them up to my room. "Wow," I said. "I feel really weak right now." After all, I had struggled with carrying only one.

"You're not," he laughed. "I'm just… strong."

"Obviously," I said, showing him the way to my bedroom. He dropped the bags in the middle of the room and not so subtly flexed his muscles while he did so. It was surprising. Despite his lankiness, he still had some pretty nicely-toned arm muscles. I couldn't help but laugh and imitate him, flexing my puny little arms and saying, "The beach is that way." He laughed with me and then laid down across my bed next to the dog. It was kind of comical. I always thought my bed was on the larger side since it was definitely bigger than I needed but he and Sophie were crowded on there. And he was so tall that his legs were dangling off the end. I sat down across from him in the plushy blue chair. I felt his eyes on me again, appraising me and I blushed. The way he kept looking at me was making me feel a little embarrassed but instead of staring at my feet, I found myself looking him over as well. He was definitely attractive. I could see now that he was more muscular than most guys his age, it was obvious to see even through his white t-shirt and dark, baggy jeans. And his brown eyes were so intense when they looked into my pale blue ones that I was glad that I was already sitting down. Finally he looked away, blushing as well. "So," I said, trying to break the sudden awkward tension in the room, "What is there to do for fun around here?"

Seth shrugged. "Hiking is pretty big in these parts."

I raised an eyebrow at this. "I wouldn't exactly consider hiking fun."

He smiled that wide grin again, the one that I was starting to really like. "Yeah, I didn't think a city girl like you would. Have you ever even been out in the wilderness before?"

I laughed and said, "No. I'm not really a fan of the outdoors."

"Are you a fan of the beach?" he asked.

"I guess. Are there some around here?"

"Yeah, down at La Push," he said.

I leaned forward a little and smirked. "But how much fun can the beach be when it's constantly raining?"

"Oh come on," he said, sitting up a little and resting on his elbows. "You have to try to be a little open-minded."

"I don't know," I said, smiling at him to show that I was only joking around. "When I think of the beach, I think of warm weather and the sun. I don't really see the appeal of it without those things."

"And the beaches near Boston had those things?" he asked, looking at me skeptically.

"Well, no, the beaches near Boston were all pretty gross. But the beaches on the Cape did."

He rolled his eyes at me and said, "Well, what exactly did you do for fun in Boston?"

"My friends and I used to go to Harvard Square or Quincy Market and people-watch," I said, smiling fondly at the memories I had of watching strangers and dumb tourists with my group of friends. "But my favorite thing to do was hang out on Yawkey Way, you know, that street outside Fenway Park, when the Red Sox were in town."

"You like baseball?" he asked me. I nodded, trying not to laugh at his shocked expression. It turned out that he was a Dodgers fan and we started talking about baseball then, getting into long arguments over whether the American or National league was better and if the designated hitter was ruining baseball. I found myself actually having fun talking to Seth. I still wondered about his sanity but I could tell that we would be good friends.

We had been talking for a while when Leah appeared in the doorway. She eyed the way Seth was lounging across my bed and smirked. "Come on, Seth. We have to go."

"Oh," he said, looking at her in surprise. It was as if he had forgotten that we weren't the only two people left in the world. We both got up and followed Leah downstairs, where Emma and Sue were waiting.

"It was nice to meet you, Liz," Sue said, pulling me into another hug.

"You too," I said, returning the hug for a second before pulling away.

She smiled at me again, the same excited smile she had on her face all throughout dinner. "So we'll see you tomorrow night around seven?" she asked.

I looked over to Emma, who nodded and then said, "Yeah, I guess so."

Seth got an excited look on his face and asked, "You're coming to La Push?"

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" I said, returning his excited smile.

"That's great!" he said. And then he unexpectedly pulled me into a tight hug. I could feel every muscle in his body pressed against mine and he was so _warm_. He must have had a fever of over one hundred degrees and yet he hadn't complained about being sick at all that night. But then again, maybe that was why he had been acting so strange at times. That was a definite comfort, knowing that my first friend in Forks wasn't insane, he was just delusional from an illness. And he smelled so good, like a mixture of salt water and pine trees. He let me go quickly, as if he had just now realized what he had done, and blushed. "Right. Well. See you tomorrow, then." He nodded to Emma and practically ran out the door.

Leah was having a hard time holding in her laughter. "Bye, Emma. It was nice meeting you, Liz." She gave me a pointed look, which I took to mean that I should now look forward to Emma and Sue scheming up ways to get Seth and I together.

I smiled back at her. "Bye Leah."

She smiled at me again before leaving. Sue hugged Emma and smiled at me once more before following her kids out the door. Emma turned to me then and said, "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"No," I said. "They were all very nice."

Emma smiled at me then. "Yes, they are. Especially Seth."

I rolled my eyes at her but didn't answer her. Instead I decided to change the subject by walking over to the empty boxes that my books had been in and asked, "Where do you want me to put these?"

"Oh, you can just leave them there," she said. "I'll have to cut them up before I can put them in the recycle bin."

I nodded. "I'm going to go to bed, then."

I thought Emma had been thoroughly distracted but I was wrong. Once I had reached the bottom of the stairs, she turned to me with a knowing smirk on her face and said, "Seth's pretty cute, isn't he?"

I rolled my eyes at her again. "Goodnight, Aunt Emma," I called as I ran up the stairs. There was no way I was going to let her corner me into having a conversation on whether or not I found Seth attractive. Once I had made it to my room, I tried, unsuccessfully, again to get Sophie off of my bed. I finally gave up and just laid down next to her, staring at the ceiling. I didn't know if my mattress was so warm because of the dog or because Seth, who had been unbelievably hot when he'd hugged me (temperature-wise, anyways), had been in this exact spot only five minutes ago. That thought made me smile and I found myself turning unconsciously onto my side, sniffing the mattress to see if he'd left his scent behind as well. Unfortunately, all I could smell was the dog. But I didn't let that bring me down. I had made my first friend here in Forks and that was definitely going to make the next year and a half tolerable, at least.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer and I am only allowed to play in it. I do own the characters you don't recognize, though.

**A/N:** This is the longest chapter I have ever written, so I hope it makes up for the wait! Once again, please read and review! I'd love to know what you think about this chapter! Many, many thanks to Lecia, Carlene12589, and xxTunstall Chickxx for your kind reviews!

**Chapter 3**

I woke up the next morning to something slobbering all over my face. I groaned and rolled over, not realizing that I was laying on the very edge of the bed. I hit the floor very hard, getting the wind knocked out of me and probably earning a decent sized bruise on my side. "Damn it, dog!" I yelled after I realized that it was Sophie that had been trying to lick my face off.

Emma burst into my room then, probably having heard all the noise I had made falling out of the bed along with the yelling. "What happened?" she asked, looking almost frantic.

I ignored her question and said shrilly, "Can you please get this thing out of my room now?!"

She frowned. "Come on, Sophie. Who wants some breakfast?" she asked in that annoying baby voice again. I don't understand why people insisted on talking to animals as if they were small children. It's not like Sophie can understand her, anyways. Sophie didn't look she could understand much, actually. But, to my surprise, the dog got up and ran out of the room, wagging her tail. Emma turned to me then and said, "You should probably get up too. It's almost noon."

I nodded and followed her down to the kitchen, not even bothering to change out of my pajamas. When we got there, Emma tried to hide her smile and asked, "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No, my side managed to break my fall," I said sourly.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said, sounding a little sharper than usual.

Emma scowled. "Are you always this cranky in the morning or is this something special you're doing just for me?"

"Sorry." I wasn't actually sorry, though, and I'm pretty sure she could tell. She looked at me and I sighed, "Yes, I am always this cranky so you might want to stay away until I've had some coffee."

"You drink coffee?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I raised an eyebrow and gave her a look that said 'Who doesn't?' She sighed. "I don't have any of it in the house. I suppose we could get a coffee maker when we go out today, although I don't think you should drink it at all. It stunts your growth."

I snorted. "I don't think I have to worry about that," I muttered. I started opening random cupboards, hoping to chance upon something to eat.

"The cereal's in the cupboard next to the fridge," Emma said as she poured some food into the dog's bowl. I got out the cereal and ate my breakfast quickly. I knew she was planning on taking me somewhere today and I was hoping that we would get it over with as fast as possible. It wasn't that I didn't want to spend time with her, I just didn't want to spend time with anyone. I got up once I was finished, washed my dishes and then made my way back to my bedroom.

As soon as I had showered and put on a pair of worn out jeans and a Harvard sweatshirt, I made my way back to the kitchen and found Emma playing with the dog. She looked over at me and said, "That was fast. I didn't realize you were that excited to go shopping."

I shrugged. "Where are we going, anyways?"

"Port Angeles," she said. She grabbed her things and I followed her out the front door.

I shot her a confused look as I slid into the front seat. "But isn't that, like, an hour away?"

Emma shrugged and said, "It's the closest place with decent stores." I gave her another look and she laughed. "Hey, that's what living in a small town is like. Get used to it, kid."

"Do I have to?" I whined, but I smiled to show I was joking.

The car ride was long and boring, and shopping with Emma was even more boring. I found myself following her from store to store, not even really paying attention to what she was looking at it. I was too lost in my thoughts about the night before. I knew that we were going to the Clearwater's tonight and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to see Seth again. I had to admit, I was interested. Not that I wanted to date him or anything, I just knew that I wanted to learn more about him. But I was also worried. He had been so warm when he pulled me into that hug. No one could be that warm and not be incredibly sick and yet he had seemed perfectly fine. Well, no, there had been a few moments when I doubted his sanity but from the way his family had been acting I could only assume that it was genetic. And a genetic predisposition to insanity had nothing to do with his obvious fever. I was jarred out of my thoughts when Emma said, "Liz? Are you alright?"

I shook my head and saw then that she was holding a large bit of black plastic. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "What in the world is that?"

"A raincoat," she said, the look on her face showing that she thought I was being stupid. "I noticed that you didn't bring one and you're definitely going to need one here."

"Oh," I said. I tried to grab it but she held it out of my reach.

"No, it is your birthday present from me," she smiled. "I just wanted to make sure that you liked it."

"Oh," I said. She looked at me expectantly and I shrugged. "Its fine, I guess."

She frowned at my disinterest but turned and walked off to another part of the store. "You looked like you were thinking pretty hard about something back there," she said when she was sure I was following her.

"Yeah, I was," I said, not sure about what she was getting at.

She had a mischievous smile on her face when she asked, "Thinking about anyone in particular?"

I sighed in annoyance. I could tell that this was going to get old fast. "My friends back home, mostly," I lied. I don't think I would ever admit to thinking about Seth to Emma. She might just have some kind of embolism or something, but only after she was able to harp on about it for a few days.

She smiled at me as if she knew I was lying. "Tell me about them," she said.

I was glad for the distraction, to be honest. If it was that obvious that I was thinking about Seth Clearwater then I simply didn't want to think about him. So I followed her around the store and told her about the four good friends that I had left in Boston. I was probably rambling but it didn't matter because talking about Sarah, Amy, Dave and Alex actually made me happy, happier than I had been since this whole mess had started. I had been going on about an incident that Dave had had with a pushy homeless guy on the green line when Emma interrupted me, asking me if I wanted to stop for dinner on the way home.

"I guess," I said, smiling at her.

She smiled back, obviously happy by the change in my mood. We put our many shopping bags (I hadn't even noticed that she had bought that many things but then again, I hadn't really been paying that much attention to her) in the car and then we walked over to a small Italian place near the boardwalk. When we were finally sitting down at a table, she asked, "So, did you leave any boyfriends back in Boston?" I blushed and looked down at the table. Emma laughed and said, "Liz, this isn't the Spanish Inquisition. I'm just curious."

I shook my head. "No," I said. "I've never had one."

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged and said, "I don't know. I guess there haven't really been that many guys interested."

She smirked then. "Seth seemed –"

I scowled and then interrupted her. "Aunt Emma, don't do that. Please."

"Do what?" she asked.

I sighed. I knew I would have to be as polite as possible about this because I didn't want to offend her. "Don't try to push Seth and I together, please. It will only make things weird." She looked disappointed but she nodded. I felt guilty then but not enough to tell her to forget what I had just said. It had been the truth. If they kept pushing and pushing then things would only get awkward between us. At this moment, all I wanted from Seth was to be his friend. I was sure he felt the same way too, since we had only just met and all, although there were some times when he would look at me in a way that implied so much more. I shook my head, not wanting to think about it anymore.

I was saved from trying to change the subject by a couple coming up to us and talking to Emma. They looked like they were around her age, maybe a little bit younger. The woman had curly strawberry blonde hair that was littered with gray while the man was completely bald with a pair of small-framed glasses. Emma smiled at them and they started to discuss something having to do with rumors about the doctor that had left. This Cullen guy had to have been pretty popular in this town, it seemed like he was all that anyone could talk about. I tuned them out, not really caring if the doctor was working at some clinic in northern Alaska now. I took my time to look around the restaurant then, noticing that it was almost completely dead. The only other people in the restaurant besides me, Emma, and the gossiping couple were two people who looked a little older than me, out on what seemed like a date. I sighed when I heard Emma say, "Oh, I completely forgot. Liz, this is Robert and Charlotte Marshall. Charlotte works at the hospital with me. They have a daughter at Forks High. What year is she now, Charlotte?"

"Katie's a senior," Charlotte says, smiling kindly down at me. And ok, I've seen _The Andy Griffith Show_ but I didn't really expect small town living to be exactly like that. Everyone I had met here was so nice that I was really starting to wonder if they had been wrong, Mayberry wasn't actually in North Carolina but instead in the Olympic Peninsula. "Are you starting tomorrow?" I nodded. She smiled at me (again. What is with the Forksians and smiling? Do they ever feel emotions other than happiness?) and said, "Well, I'll make sure to tell Katie to look for you tomorrow."

I blushed and tried not to groan. Great, that's just what I needed, a senior being told by her weirdly-nice mother to look out for me. If that's not social suicide then I don't know what is. "You don't have to do that," I said.

"Oh no, it's alright!" Charlotte said. "You'll need someone to show you around the school."

Emma noticed the wide-eyed, panicked look on my face and said, "But Liz is a year behind Katie. I doubt they'll even have any classes together."

"Oh," Charlotte said, her face falling. And then her face brightened again. "Well, I'll make sure to tell her to leave you a spot at her lunch table. No one likes to sit alone in the cafeteria." She looked pleased with herself and soon she and her husband were off. I thought the Clearwaters were a little off but there was something really wrong with this woman. She was _too_ nice, in the way that psychopathic serial killers are so nice until they're slitting your throat with a switchblade.

"She won't actually do that, will she?" I asked Emma quietly.

She laughed, "Probably not. Charlotte can be a little flakey but she has a good heart. Maybe you should just avoid Katie Marshall for the next couple days."

"Right," I frowned. Our food arrived and we ate in silence. It was comfortable though, and I was starting to think that maybe living with Emma wouldn't be that bad, even if it meant I was stuck in Mayberry. Once it was over and we were getting ready to leave, I turned to her and asked, "Is there anywhere I could get my hair cut?"

Emma looked shocked. "You want to cut your hair? Why?"

I shrugged. "I guess I just want a change."

She eyed my hair, which I had left down, and sighed. "Yeah, there's a place right down the street. I think it's still open." We walked over to a small hair salon a couple stores down from the restaurant and I was happy to see that it was indeed still open. Emma sighed again and said, "I really wish you wouldn't do that. I love your hair. It looks so nice long like that."

I smiled and said, "It's just hair." I was out of there in an hour, with a good six inches of my hair chopped off. It fell to just below my shoulders now and the hairdresser had even straightened it for me. I couldn't stop playing with it while Emma looked on in disapproval. It didn't matter that she didn't like it because I loved it so much. It felt more real, all these silly little changes that I was going through, now that there was also a physical change.

--

The car ride to La Push was long and I was relieved when we finally pulled up in front of a small white house with red shutters. Sue was standing in the doorway as we walked up, smiling excitedly at the both of us. "Happy birthday," she said to me, pulling me into another hug once we had reached the door.

"Thanks," I said, smiling before pulling away. This was going to be harder than I realized. When I had said before that I didn't want to celebrate my birthday, I had honestly meant it. The whole thing just depressed me. Like it wasn't bad enough that I had spent my actual birthday attending my father's funeral, I was now forced to celebrate it with a family that I was convinced was mentally disturbed and also way too into hugging.

"Seth and Leah should be here soon," she said, smiling at me. "They had to go talk to Sam Uley about something." She showed us into a kitchen where a beautiful woman with three thick, red scars running down the side of her face was putting chocolate frosting on a cake. She was beautiful despite the scars with copper skin, satiny black hair and wide, almond shaped brown eyes. In fact, she looked a little like Leah, the only difference being the scars that pulled on the corner of her right eye and the right side of her mouth, turning it into a permanent grimace. The scars seemed to continue down her right arm, reaching to the tips of her fingers. I tried not to stare at her scars, instead looking at the cake she was working on. "Liz, this is Emily Uley."

She smiled kindly at me and said, "It's nice to meet you, Liz."

"You too," I said, smiling shyly.

She gestured towards the cake and said, "We weren't sure if you liked chocolate or not -"

I interrupted her by saying, "You baked that?" I was kind of shocked. No one had ever gone to that kind of trouble for me before. I didn't like it but at the same time it gave me this weird feeling… like I belonged here, in La Push, with these women. Emily nodded, giving me a strange look. "You guys didn't have to do that," I said. "I mean, that must have taken a while."

Emily smiled at me. "It was no trouble, Liz." The tone of her voice implied that even if it was trouble, she'd do it anyways. I simply gave her a quick smile and leaned against one of the counters in the kitchen. Sue and Emma went off into the living room, talking about the couple we had run into at the restaurant in Port Angeles. I swear, those two would never run out of things to gossip about it. I had expected it to be annoying but instead I was slightly jealous. It was very obvious how close they were and I had never been that close to anyone before. I did have a group of friends back in Boston but I'd never really had a best friend. I usually kept people at a distance, never letting anyone get too close just in case things went bad.

"Can I help?" I asked Emily after watching her spread more frosting onto the cake.

"Sure," she said, handing me a white thing that looked a little like a spatula. After watching me plop huge piles of the frosting on top of it, she laughed and said, "You've never done this before, have you?"

I laughed as well. "Is it that obvious?"

"Only a little," she said kindly, obviously lying. She took another one of the spatulas and started spreading out all the frosting I had just dumped onto it. "Here, watch. You're supposed to spread it around like this so it comes out evenly."

I followed her example and soon the whole thing was covered. She put it away in a large tupperware container and then turned and smiled at me. "So…" I said, reaching for some conversation. Emily seemed nice and I wanted to get to know her although I wasn't sure exactly how to start a conversation. "Are you related to that Sam Uley guy I keep hearing about?"

Emily smiled at that and seemed to hold in a laugh. "Actually, I'm married to him."

"Oh," I said, surprised. She looked too young to be married. Not that I have anything against marriage, I just think it's something better to wait for.

"We just got married a couple months ago, actually," she said, laughing at the shocked expression on my face. "What have you heard?"

I shrugged. "Just little things. Like how he gave Seth a job or something."

"Oh," Emily said, looking away from me now. "Yeah, that's what they had to talk about. They should be back soon, though."

As soon as Emily said that, there was a loud noise and suddenly six incredibly large guys, along with Leah, walked into the kitchen. They all looked so similar that I thought they were all brothers until I noticed Seth among them. They were all freakishly tall, much like Seth, and there were a few that were even taller, and incredibly muscular. They all had crow-black hair that was cut short, except for one whose hair reached his chin. Seth seemed to spot me right away and exclaimed, "Liz!" He made a beeline for me, knocking one of the guys who was both shorter and younger-looking out of his way. He smiled that wide, goofy grin and said, "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks," I said, smiling shyly back at him.

He reached up and ran one of his overly large hands through my hair. "You cut your hair," he said, frowning.

"Yeah," I said, actually a little saddened by his reaction. I didn't know why, surely I wasn't upset that he didn't like my haircut. I mean, I had just met the guy. Who cares what he thought, right? But I was extremely anxious when I said, "Why? You don't like it?"

He smiled softly at me then and he got that really intense look on his face again. "I love it," he said, running his hand through it again. I wasn't able to stop the blush rising up my neck and onto my face so I looked down at my feet, hoping he wouldn't notice. He kept running his hand through my hair and I couldn't deny that I liked it. His touch seemed to ease my embarrassment and the awkwardness I felt from being in a room full of people I didn't really know. I looked up then and saw that he was still staring at me in _that_ way. It made me feel weird, like my stomach was tightening and I could feel that stupid blush again on the back of my neck and yet I couldn't look away.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring into his eyes like that. It could have been an hour or five seconds. I had lost all concepts of time. But someone cleared their throat loudly and broke the connection. I looked around and saw that two of the boys that had come in with Seth were looking at us and smirking. One was shorter than Seth and definitely looked younger, while the other was a little bit taller and very muscular. The taller one raised an eyebrow at us and Seth scowled at him. Then he turned to me and said, "Liz, this is Brady and Quil."

"Hi Liz," Quil said. They were both giving me this knowing look that made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

"So where's this cake?" Brady asked. He was sniffling, almost as if he was trying to find the food by smelling it out. And the weirdest thing was that he found it. His nose seemed to lead him straight to the container it was in.

He started to lift the top when Emily rushed over and slapped his hands out of the way. "You won't be eating any of it until everyone gets here," she said sternly. It was clear to see the affection she had for him through the reprimand, though.

An incredibly large man, taller than everyone else in the room, came up behind her and put his hand on her back. "It will just be us," he said in a deep, soothing voice. "The others are out patrolling." Emily looked at him wide-eyed and then glanced over at me, I think to see if I had picked up on what he had said. It had struck me as strange, this man was apparently running some kind of security detail here on the reservation. It made me wonder if they were hiding things like large diamonds or gold bricks somewhere in La Push. I pushed it to the back of my mind as he offered me his hand and said, "Hello Liz. I'm Sam Uley."

I shook his hand. It was kind of pathetic how small my hand seemed compared to his. "Nice to meet you," I said. So this was the infamous Sam Uley.

Emily smiled at me and then Seth pulled me back to his side. He pointed to the other three guys in the room and told me their names. Jacob was the one with the longer hair. He was almost as tall as Sam and didn't look like he wanted to be here at all. Embry and Paul were standing across the room with him, talking quietly. Embry was tall and thin while Paul was slightly shorter with bigger muscles. I was starting to think that Emma was right, they must be putting human growth hormones in the water here.

Emily took the cake out then and it seemed to grab everyone's attention. She put the candles in and they all insisted on singing. I'm pretty sure my face was a bright tomato red by the time they were done. I was a little confused when Emily insisted on giving Sue, Emma and I the first pieces but I quickly saw her reasoning once the boys had gotten a hold of it. They all ate so fast and ended up fighting over who would get the two leftover pieces. Once Jacob and Paul had won the last bits of cake, everyone started to file out of the room. "Where's everyone going?" I asked Seth quietly.

He looked and watched as Brady and Quil, the last two people in the room with us, slipped out the door. "Probably First Beach," he said. "They're having a celebratory bonfire."

"Why?" I asked. La Push was starting to seem stranger and stranger to me. Tight security and celebratory bonfires… I had never been in a town like this before, that was for sure.

He smiled as he said, "Jacob's back."

Well, I guess that made sense. Jacob must have been gone for a long time if they were going to celebrate his return. "Where did he go?" I said curiously. Seth looked down at his feet then, and I realized that he didn't really want to share that bit of information with him. "You don't have to tell me," I said, trying to hide the hurt in my voice. I couldn't even explain why that hurt me. It's not like he had to tell me everything, we weren't that close.

"I would, Liz, I really would but it's not my story to tell," he said, giving me a deploring look. I think he had been able to tell how hurt I was and I did not like that one bit. It was one thing that he was bringing out these strange emotions in me, but the fact that he could see them quite clearly was not okay with me. I gave him a half smile before turning and heading for the door. "Where are you going?" he asked, sounding both sad and confused.

"What, you think I'm going to stay in your kitchen when there is a bonfire to attend?" I asked, smirking. "Or am I just not invited?"

He smiled, relieved although I don't know why. Did he really think I would just walk out on him because he wouldn't tell me about one of his friends? I wasn't that nosey. "Like you'd be able to find the beach on your own," he teased. He grabbed my hand and led me out the door.

I had a hard time keeping pace with him. In fact, I had to practically jog just to keep up with his quick, long strides. He seemed to be amused by this fact too, because he kept looking back at me and chuckling. That must have been why he hadn't let go of my hand, just so he could half-drag me through the woods and then laugh at me when I stumbled over a tree root. When we finally reached the beach, I could see that there were a lot more people than there had been at the Clearwater's. There were two more boys that were freakishly tall, both bearing the same lanky muscles and short black hair that Seth and his other friends had. There was also another woman talking with Emily along with a family of four. Quil, at least I think it was Quil, was playing with one of the kids, letting her run a few feet down the beach before he'd pick her up and start tickling her. There were also two older men, one sitting in a small beach chair while the other was in a wheelchair.

Seth led me right up to the fire, which was going strong now. He introduced me to the two other guys, Jared and Collin, along with Jared's girlfriend, Kim. The small family there was Emily's sister, her husband and her two kids. And finally, the two older men were Quil Ateara, Quil's grandfather, and Billy Black, Jacob's dad. Once he had finished pointing these people out to me, I noticed how some people (specifically Emma, Sue, and a couple of Seth's friends) were eyeing our hands. I quickly dropped Seth's hand and he frowned, probably as annoyed as I was at the fact that these people were getting quite the wrong impression. I sat down on a log and watched the fire as it turned blue and green. Seth plopped down next to me and said, "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I guess," I said. "But why is it blue?"

Seth laughed at me and I scowled back. "You really don't know much about the outdoors, do you?" I elbowed him in the side but I think I hurt myself more than I hurt him. His muscles were incredibly hard. He smirked and said, "It's the driftwood. The salt does it."

"Interesting," I said sarcastically. He glared at me playfully before slightly nudging me in the side with his elbow. He did it lightly but it still kind of hurt. But that couldn't stop my smile when I noticed his wide grin, the one that was quickly becoming my favorite.

The guy he pointed out as Collin had caught his attention then, speaking lowly to him about something. The only word that I had been able to make out was "patrol." I sat and watched the others around the fire. Brady, Paul and Embry all had hot dogs on what looked like straightened-out coat hangers and were roasting them over the fire. Quil now had the small girl sleeping in his arms, and I was amused to see that she was drooling all over his shoulder. Sam, Jared, and Leah were talking about something and they all looked a little panicked. Something must have happened while they were doing their security detail… maybe some evil henchmen had found out about all the gold they had stashed away. Emily and Kim were talking quietly with Sue and Emma and Billy Black and Quil's grandfather were muttering to each other about something. It was nice to see, everyone here seemed so close, like they were one large family. I had never experienced something like that before. I felt kind of peaceful but there was this voice in the back of my head, telling me that I didn't belong here. And I couldn't shake the feeling that it was true. The only reason why I was even here was because Seth, for some crazy reason, wanted to be my friend. That, coupled with the fact that the only reason why I was even in Washington to begin with was because my father died, really got to me at that moment. I felt as if I were floating along in space with nothing, not even Seth, to hold me anywhere and it wasn't a very nice feeling. I got up and that seemed to grab Seth's attention. "Where are you going?" he asked.

I shrugged. "I want to look around the beach."

"I'll come with you." He started to get up but I pushed him back down onto the log.

"No, stay here with your friends," I said, giving him a half-assed smile to let him know that I'd be ok. I made my way down the beach then, away from everyone else. Once I had gotten away from the bonfire, I noticed there was someone else who didn't seem to want to be around people either. Jacob was standing far away from the bonfire, picking up stones off the beach and throwing them into the sea. I got a little bit closer, but not too close, before I sat down and watched him. He looked absolutely broken, like something terrible had happened and it had ripped his heart right out of his chest. It hurt just to look at him, so I turned and watched the waves instead. Crazily enough, my thoughts went back to families, like the incredibly close-knit one I had seen near the fire. I had never really had much of one. My parents got divorced when I was really little. My mom really hadn't been in my life much, she had gotten too involved with the wrong crowd and my father had refused to let me see her. He and I had been pretty close when I was younger but he started getting sick when I turned ten. I don't mean physically sick, he had this depressive disorder that seemed to get worse and worse as time went by. It would take him away from everything. He would avoid his job, his friends, even me, to the point where he would hole up in his room for weeks at a time. It had gotten so bad at the time of his death that I had to remind him to eat at least once a day. And he had refused to get help for it, which had been the most frustrating thing of all. He had been ashamed of the way he felt, which only made it worse. And I couldn't help but wonder if maybe I should have tried more to help him. If he'd still be around if only I had let him know there was nothing to so embarrassed about.

I was shocked when I felt someone sit down next to me because I hadn't heard anyone coming. I must have been more lost in my thoughts than I realized. I wasn't surprised to see that it was Seth, though, and that he was sitting impossibly close to me. I could feel his side pressed up against mine, his warmth leaking into me. I was thankful for that, it was incredibly cold even though it wasn't raining, and that must have been why I found myself pressing closer to him. "Hey," I said softly.

"Hi," he said, smiling at me. I smiled back but stayed silent. I had come over here to be alone and it was surprising to me that I didn't really mind that Seth was here now. I didn't want to take him away from his friends, though. "Why'd you wonder off?"

I shrugged. "Just wanted to be alone, I guess." I didn't want to admit to him how out of place I had felt in his group of friends.

His face fell. "Do you want me to go?" I quickly shook my head and the smile returned to his face.

"Won't your friends miss you, though?" I asked.

"They'll survive without me," he said. I turned back to the ocean and we watched the waves in silence. It was comfortable, not awkward at all, and I found that I liked being with Seth like this. He would just let me sit and think and he didn't pry like Emma did. After a while, I started to shiver. It was really stupid of me not to bring a coat. It was so incredibly cold and the hooded sweatshirt I was wearing just did not cut it. "Cold?" he asked. I nodded and suddenly, his arm was around my shoulders. I wanted to object but his warmth stopped me.

"You're so warm," I said, feeling confused again. "Are you sick?"

I felt his body tense up and I turned to stare at him. I instinctively knew he was debating on whether he should tell me something. Then he just shrugged and said, "I run a few degrees hotter than most people."

"Right," I said skeptically. So I guess he had decided not to tell me. I turned back to the ocean, completely ready to pout over the fact that he was keeping things from me when he started running his hand through my hair again. It was really hard to be upset when he did that and that kind of annoyed me. And yet… I didn't want him to stop, either.

"You look sad," he said softly after a few minutes. "What are you thinking about?"

I shrugged again. "Stuff."

"Stuff," he said in a high voice, teasing me. "What kind of stuff?"

I looked down and bit the side of my bottom lip. I wanted to open up to Seth but I didn't at the same time. I was scared, I guess. It was all very confusing. Finally, I just decided to take the plunge and tell him. "My dad, mostly."

"Oh," he said. He shot me a shy glance. "Emma said he died. That's why you had to come stay with her." I nodded. "How did he die?"

"Suicide," I said, not really wanting to go further than that.

"Oh," he said again. His eyes were wide. I guess he hadn't been expecting that. "I'm sorry." I just shrugged and turned back to the ocean. It was strange how nice it felt talking to Seth. Natural. Like I'd been doing it for years instead of days, and I would continue to do it for years to come. He cleared his throat. "You know, not to sound like an after-school special –" My laughter cut him off but he frowned at me and then continued. "No, really, Liz. I don't want to sound too cheesy but I know what it's like. My dad died in March."

I stopped laughing then. "I'm sorry, Seth. I shouldn't have laughed."

He smiled at me to show I was forgiven. "It's fine. But, you know, I get it. I'm always here for you," he said that last part while staring at me in that intense way again and I had to look away. I watched the waves crashing on the shore.

He was watching me, though, and I turned back and smirked at him. "Are you going to tell me the importance of staying in school now?"

He chuckled and then bumped my shoulder with his. "Shut up."


	4. Chapter 4

The bonfire had been a lot better than I had expected

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to take her characters hostage from time to time. I do own the characters you don't recognize.

**A/N:** I'm going to apologize for the mistakes in this chapter. Normally I give myself a couple days to edit and revise but… I really wanted to get this up tonight. Thank you to xxTunstall Chickxx, gym girl, Lecia, LittleStarThingys and Bible Chick for your wonderful reviews! They definitely motivated me when I ran into a couple problems with this chapter. So I hope everyone likes this chapter! And please review!

**Chapter 4**

The bonfire had been a lot better than I had expected. I had spent the rest of the night with Seth, away from everybody else. The only thing that dampened my mood was the cocky little smile Emma had thrown my way when she had found Seth and I like that, with his arm still around my shoulder, an hour or so later. And then those stupid '_I knew it!_' smiles she had on her face every time she caught me sniffing my sweatshirt, the one that smelled so much like him, on the way home. Needless to say, I had ignored her and sulked for the rest of the night.

But I was insanely glad she was here now as she drove me to Forks High. "Liz, stop that," she said, eyeing the leg I was bouncing. It was a nervous habit and I hadn't even realized that I had been doing it.

"Sorry," I muttered. I watched out the window as we drove down the highway. "I'm just nervous."

"You have nothing to be nervous about," Emma smiled. "This is a good school."

"It's a small school," I pointed out.

She was confused by this. "So? That doesn't make it awful."

"I guess," I muttered. She didn't really understand. I wasn't saying that it wasn't a good school because it was small, I just meant that all the kids who went there already knew each other. In fact, they've all probably been hanging out together since they were in diapers. And I was going to be the odd girl out. Plus, it was just a little nerve-wracking being in a situation where you don't know anyone. It was slightly pathetic but I really wish I could have gone to school in La Push simply because I knew people there. Well, I only actually knew Seth but still… at least he was able to calm me down. Emma really wasn't helping me at all right now.

I hadn't even realized it when we reached the school. It didn't really look like a school. All the schools I had encountered in Boston were all one large building complete with fences and cement schoolyards while Forks High was a series of smaller brick buildings with numbers painted on the side. She pulled up in front of the smallest building with a sign out front letting everyone know it was the Front Office. "You'll do great," Emma said kindly. I smiled nervously at her and then got out of the car. I was halfway expecting her to yell out "Don't do drugs!" just to cement my position as the weird social outcast but thankfully she just drove off, leaving me to my doom.

I sighed and walked into the building. The building was really one large office with smaller ones off to the side. There was a large counter that cut the room in half that was covered in pamphlets and flyers. On one side of the counter, there were bright orange plastic folding chairs, notices and awards all over the walls, and a large clock. There were also a lot of small potted plants littering the counter. On the other side of the counter were three desks, one of which was occupied by large woman with curly red hair and small, thin-framed glasses. She looked up as I entered the building and asked, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah," I said, biting my bottom lip. "I'm Liz O'Brien. I'm new here."

"Right, Emma's niece," she said, smiling at me. Apparently, news got around fast in Forks. I wondered just how many people in Forks knew about me, the niece of the chatty nurse in Forks hospital who had to come live here after her father's death. It made me feel uncomfortable. She searched through a pile of papers on her desk until she reached the ones she was looking for. "Here's your schedule and a map of the school." She took me through my classes, highlighting different routes on the map, and then gave me a slip of paper to have each of my teachers sign. She told me to bring the paper back at the end of the day and then hoped that I'd like Forks, as if that were humanly possible. I doubt even the kids who grew up here actually liked Forks.

I stood just inside the door to the front office, looking over the map of the school. I tried to memorize it so I wouldn't have to pull it out too much during the day. Then I made my way out into the rain for Building Six and my government class. I followed a dark-haired girl into the classroom and put my raincoat up on a hook just inside the door. I handed the slip to the teacher, Mrs. Barnes, and I was very thankful when she didn't make me introduce myself to the class. She signed it and I made my way to an empty seat in the back of the room, trying to avoid the curious stares I knew I was getting. As soon as I got there, I stared down at my desk and hoped that class would start soon.

"Hey," I heard someone whisper and I looked up to see that it was the black-haired girl sitting next to me. "You're new." I stared at her. What was I supposed to say to that? _No, I'm not. I've just been invisible for the past two and a half years_. After I didn't say anything, she rolled her eyes and said, "What's your name?"

"Liz," I said. "What's yours?"

"Samantha Davis," she said, nodding her head. "Everyone calls me Sammy." I smiled at her and she smiled back. "Where are you from?"

"Boston."

She smiled at me and said, "Yeah, you have the accent."

I laughed at that. I had noticed my accent more the more time I spent here. Mrs. Barnes started the class then and I turned my attention to her. The class went by in a blur. I had a hard time paying attention to her, honestly. I was too busy looking around the room, trying to be discreet about it. I noticed a lot of people staring back at me curiously. I guess they didn't really get that many new students here. It was a good thing I had already learned most of these things in my AP Civics class back at my old school.

When the class was over, Sammy asked me, "What's your next class?"

"French," I said, after glancing down at my schedule.

"I have Biology, which is right near there," she said. "I'll show you where it is."

"Thanks," I said, smiling.

We walked out of the classroom and I noticed that some of the other students seemed to be following us. I turned to Sammy and raised an eyebrow at her. She shook her head and whispered, "Don't mind them. They don't seem to realize that new kids aren't animals in a zoo. They'll get over it soon."

"Oh," I said. So it was pretty much exactly as I imagined it would be. The kids who grew up here would be staring and pointing at me, the new girl. It was kind of like I was an exhibit in a zoo for everyone to see. I didn't like it at all.

"So," she said cheerfully, her voice rising back up to its normal level, "Boston is pretty different from Forks, huh?"

"You have no idea," I frowned.

"It must suck," she said. "If I were you, I would have stayed in Boston."

"I wish I could have," I said, laughing. We reached Building Five and she told me to meet her outside the cafeteria for lunch before going on to her class. At least I had made one friend here. I couldn't help but wish that Seth was here with me, though. I know it was pathetic but it would have been nice to have an ally, someone I knew that I could depend on. Which was slightly absurd, considering I had literally just met him and everything. But I seemed to know instinctively that he had meant what he said on the beach last night, that he would always be there for me no matter what.

The rest of the morning seemed to pass in the same way. I would sit in the classrooms and try to ignore the fact that many of the kids were staring at me. I hoped they would all get over the new girl thing soon because I found it hard to concentrate on what the teacher was saying when I could feel their eyes on me. The only teacher that made me introduce myself was Mr. Varner, my calculus teacher. Unfortunately, I also had that class with Katie Marshall. Apparently, her mother had said something to her about me. Katie had the same unruly curly hair as her mother, although hers was a deep red that looked almost unnatural and her father's brown eyes. She had seemed nice enough but I couldn't shake the feeling that all she really wanted to do was laugh at me. Of course, if my whacked-out mother had told me to save a seat in the cafeteria for some girl that I hadn't even met yet, I probably would have laughed at her too. She had even offered me a seat at her lunch table at the end of class, but there was no way I would have ever accepted it. I planned on following Emma's advice of avoiding her like the plague until she forgot the whole thing.

I had been glad when it was finally lunch time. Sammy was waiting for me outside of the cafeteria, just like she had promised. She smiled brightly at me and then led the way to the food line. "So, how's it been so far?" she asked.

"Pretty much the same as Government," I said.

She laughed. "You'd think they'd be used to it by now."

"Why?" I asked curiously. "Do you get a lot of new students?" I had a hard time believing that.

"Well, no," she said, stopping to pay for the food on her tray. "But there was a family, the Cullens, a few years ago and then Bella Swan only two years ago. I mean, no offense, but if they were able to get over them quickly then they'll certainly lose interest in you soon."

I had to laugh at her blunt honesty. "Well, that's good to know then."

She led me towards a table that was already occupied by three people. There were two boys and one girl. One of the boys had dark brown hair cut incredibly short, hazel eyes and a face that hadn't yet lost its baby fat while the other looked older and had white blonde hair that hung in his dark blue eyes. The girl had dirty blonde hair cut to her chin and light green eyes. They were all eyeing me curiously as we walked up to the table. "Hey guys," Sammy said. "This is Liz, the new girl. Liz, this is Will, Chase and Lydia."

"Hi," I said, smiling at them as I sat down.

"Hey," Lydia said, smiling back. "You're from Boston, right?"

"Yeah. How'd you know that?" I asked.

The blonde-haired boy, Chase, laughed and said, "Are you kidding? Lydia knows everything about everyone. Don't let it freak you out."

Lydia shot him a dirty look and then turned her attention back to me. "So Liz, how do you like Forks so far?"

I smiled at her. "Honestly, it kind of sucks."

"You've got that right," Sammy said. I noticed that the dark-haired boy, Will, had his arm around her.

Lydia looked slightly offended. "It's not that bad! I mean, they just built that mall in Port Angeles."

Chase laughed sarcastically. "So what? They've probably got more than one mall in Boston." He turned to look at me and said, "Right?"

"Yeah," I laughed. I noticed that Lydia still looked a little offended and I realized that she must not hate her hometown like Sammy and Chase seemed to. I searched my brain for a nice thing to say about Forks to appease her. "We don't have such nice beaches, though."

She smiled at me then. "What beach did you go to?"

"I think it was First Beach," I said.

She smirked. "Did you see any of those fine Quileute boys down there?"

Chase rolled his eyes at her while Sammy laughed. "What?" I asked. I was a little confused although I did have a slight idea as to who she was talking about.

"There's this group of guys down there that are hella tall and muscled," she smiled. She seemed to really enjoy talking about others, but not in a malicious way. "And they're all really cute too. They –"

"She doesn't need their life stories, Lydia," Sammy laughed.

"Yeah, I think I met a couple of them," I smirked.

"Nice, right?" she said, smiling brightly at me.

I laughed at her and said, "I guess." I listened to their conversation as they started talking about a movie they had just seen in Port Angeles. It was nice, sitting here with them. Just the fact that I had made friends in this stupid town was nice, even if they were just the kind of friends that I could sit with at lunch. It made the town seem… not that awful.

Lunch was almost over when they turned back to me. "What class do you have next?" Sammy asked.

"Gym," I said.

"Me too!" Lydia said, smiling brightly. She got up with her tray and motioned for me to do the same. "We can walk there together."

"Alright," I said, getting out of my seat and following her. Once we were out of the cafeteria, I decided to ask her something that had been bothering me all through lunch. "So what's with Will?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, sounding a little defensive.

"Well, is he completely mute or something?" He hadn't said one thing the whole time I was sitting at the table. I began to get a little paranoid. "Or does he just not like me?"

She snorted. "He doesn't even know you," she said. "No, Will's really shy. He's a year younger than us and I think sometimes that gets to him. But he's been dating Sammy for over a year now."

"Oh," I said. I followed her into the gym and had Coach Clapp sign the slip I had to return to the office. He gave me my uniform and offered to let me sit out that day but I declined. I had too much nervous energy that I just needed to let off. I think I might be an anomaly in that I actually liked gym class. A lot of people thought that just because I was small, I would also be soft and girly. But the truth was, I was a bit of a tomboy. I loved sports. And while I wasn't exactly the most coordinated person in the world, I wasn't incredibly clumsy either. Unfortunately it was too rainy to do what I really loved, which was running, but I guess basketball was close enough. I hurried into the changing room and found an empty locker near Lydia.

"What are you doing?" she asked

"Getting ready for gym," I said, giving her a strange look. Wasn't it obvious what I was doing?

"But why?" she asked. "I thought he'd let you sit out…"

I shrugged. "I like basketball," I said. She gave me a weird look, as if she thought I had a few screws loose, and then shrugged.

Gym was definitely better than any of my other classes. I had avoided the ball, contented in running up and down the court. I felt like I had burned off most of the anxiety that had plagued me throughout the day. The only bad thing was that I still had one more class to go. If only gym has been scheduled as my last class then I would have felt fine. But now I had to head to English and I could feel the anxiety going up again. Apparently, basketball had only been an exercise in futility.

I was surprised to find Lydia waiting for me outside the door to the girls' changing room. "What's your next class?" she asked, still smiling at me. She seemed to be permanently happy. It wasn't creepy, like some of the other citizens of Forks. It suited her. She kind of reminded me of an elf, or at least the elves in children's stories. She was short, although not as short as me, and pretty small. And she always had a smile on her face, even when she didn't seem at all happy.

"English," I said. "What about you?"

"Spanish," she said. "It's right next to the English building. I'll walk you over there."

"You don't have to," I said. I didn't want to make her late for her own class.

"It's no problem," she said. She started telling me about a winter formal dance that was only a month and a half away and then she launched into a description of the dress she planned on wearing to it. She was definitely different from any other girl that I've ever hung out with but I liked her enough to overlook that. She was describing the straps to it when we reached my English class. I waved goodbye to her, a little glad to get away before I knew exactly how many beads had been worked into the fabric of her dress, and hurried into the class. I looked around as my teacher signed the slip and saw that Chase was in my class. He waved me over once Mr. Mason was done and I sat down in the seat behind him.

"Hey Liz," he said, turning around in his seat to face me. "What's that?" He nodded towards the slip I still had in my hand.

I showed it to him. "I had to have everyone sign it today," I said.

"Why?" he asked, looking at it in confusion.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "I guess to make sure I went to all of my classes."

He smiled. "What, they think you'd already start ditching? Were you some kind of delinquent in Boston?"

"Oh yeah," I said sarcastically. "I often skipped class so I could rob banks. It took the entire Boston police force to take me down." He laughed and handed the slip of paper back to me. It was then that I noticed that he had signed it too. "What is that?" I said, pointing to the spot where he had scribbled his name.

"You said everyone had to sign it," he said, smiling teasingly at me.

"The teachers, not you!" I said, grabbing his pencil and erasing what he had written.

"Oh so I don't matter now?" he asked, smirking.

"Damn right," I muttered. I smiled at him to show that I was joking around. Mr. Mason started the class then, going on about how the characters in the _The Great Gatsby_ all represented a different social trend in the 1920s. I felt eyes on me and tried to ignore them but it was hard. What was it with these kids? Shouldn't they be paying attention to the lecture? I looked up and saw that a couple of the girls sitting near us where staring at me, but not in the way that everyone had been looking at me before, with curiosity. They simply looked like they were ready to take me out. I shrank back in my seat and tuned Mr. Mason out, trying to figure out how I had offended them.

Once class was over, Chase turned back to me and said, "Do you have a ride home?"

"Yeah," I said. "The bus." Emma had been nice enough to drive me on my first day but that meant she would have to work later tonight. I hadn't realized exactly how much she worked at the hospital but apparently a sixty hour week was normal to her so I wouldn't really be able to use her car. Not that I could right now anyways since I didn't even have my permit. It really made me wish that Forks had some kind of public transportation.

Chase laughed and said, "I'll give you a ride if you want."

"Thanks," I said. He walked with me to the front office and I noticed I was getting that look again from a couple of the girls walking in the hallway. It must have been because I was with Chase because they hadn't looked at me like that earlier when I was with Sammy and Lydia. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, trying to be as discrete as possible because I didn't think he drive me home if he thought I was some kind of freak. He was definitely cute. His skin was tan, but not as tan as Seth's, and both his white-blonde hair and dark blue eyes looked almost unnatural with his complexion. He wasn't very tall but he was built, his muscles much larger than Seth's lanky ones. It unsettled me when I realized I was comparing Chase to Seth… and when I realized that there simply was no comparison. Well, I guess those girls would be happy when they saw that I was simply not interested in Chase but I really needed to get a hold of these growing feelings I had for Seth. It wasn't right. He was my only actual friend in Forks and frankly, he was way out of my league.

Chase wasn't oblivious to the way the girls in Forks seemed to react to him. He smirked the whole way to the front office as I dropped off the slip. The redhead who helped me that morning, Mrs. Cope, if the nameplate on her desk was correct, looked between the two of us and smiled. "Did you have a good day?" she asked, the kindness in her voice was hard to miss.

"Yes," I said, forcing myself to smile back at her. I gave her the signed slip and turned around, heading for the exit.

"I hope you enjoy Forks!" she called after me, like some kind of concierge at a hotel.

"Not likely," I muttered as soon as I was out of hearing distance.

Chase laughed and led me to the old, beat up Nissan Maxima he had parked in the student parking lot. It looked like it was from the late 80s and it was hard to see the color of it through all the rust, although I was almost certain it was a dark red color. Lydia was leaning against the passenger door and smiled when she saw us. "Hey, do you mind giving me a ride?" she asked Chase. "Will's parents aren't home so you know Sammy wanted to race over there…" She nodded to a dark blue jeep that was speeding out of the parking lot.

He laughed again. "Sure, Lyd." They both got in front while I sat in the back, although I immediately regretted it. The car was dirty. Like, call the hazmat team kind of dirty. There was a lot trash everywhere along with some smelly clothes stuffed onto the seat next me.

"Um, I won't get an infection back here, will I?" I asked.

Lydia laughed at that. "Chase's car, while disgusting, won't give you any kind of communicable disease."

"Good to know," I said, trying to move the smelly clothes away from me without actually touching them.

I gave Chase the directions to Emma's house and then Lydia turned around in her seat and smiled at me. "So did you get the death glares?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious.

"From all of Chase's admirers," she smirked. "They get that way when any girl talks to him. It's kind of funny, really, considering how none of us are his type at all."

"Lydia!" he said, sounding angry.

"Wait," I said, looking between the two of them. "Are you saying that you're…" I trailed off when I saw the glare he was giving me in the rear view mirror.

"Don't tell anyone!" he said, sounding both panicked and very pissed off.

I smiled timidly at him. "Don't worry, I won't," I said, trying to reassure him.

Lydia giggled while Chase still looked pissed off. "She would have figured it out eventually, Chase," she said, trying to reason with him. "She's not an idiot." He was still glaring at her though and I suddenly wished Chase would drive faster. I could understand why he would be angry, he barely knew me. He didn't know how I'd react or if I would decide to run around and tell everyone else at the school. But I certainly didn't mind and I was pretty good at keeping secrets.

The rest of the car ride was silent and very, very tense. To say I was relieved when we pulled up in front of my house would have been an understatement. I gathered my stuff up but stopped when I heard Lydia whistle lowly. "Who is _that_?"

I looked up and was surprised to see Seth there. Although I don't know how I could have possibly missed him the first time, he was so large. He had on the same dark blue jeans and white shirt that he had been wearing on Saturday night, except there were a few large streaks of dirt on them now. He was looking at the car warily, as if he expected it to jump up on my front step and try to take him down. I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face when I saw him, and it widened when I saw him return it. I ignored Lydia's question and said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I rushed out of the car and walked right up to him. "Shouldn't you be in school?" I asked. I simply couldn't stop smiling around him. I was really going to have to get these weird feelings in check.

"We get out earlier," he explained.

"Oh," I said. I looked around, expecting to see his sister or mother somewhere but he was alone. "How'd you get here?"

"Leah dropped me off," he said. We smiled at each other and I was getting lost in his eyes again. This was not good. He laughed softly and said, "So… do you want to go in or are we going to stand out here on your doorstop until Emma gets home?"

"Right," I said, blushing. I fished my keys out of my backpack and opened the door. He followed me into the living room and we both sat down on the couch. He was impossibly close to me again. It was strange, I hated it when anyone touched me… except Seth. I really didn't mind the fact that I could feel him pressed up against my side. It was actually rather enjoyable. I turned slightly and saw that he was staring straight ahead with that goofy grin on his face. "So why are you here?"

He turned to face me and raised an eyebrow. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked. I could hear the sadness in his voice although I wasn't exactly sure why it was there.

I sighed. "Of course not, Seth. I was just wondering if there was a reason why you decided to just randomly show up at my house."

I could feel the muscles in his side moving as he shrugged. "I just wanted to see how you did at school. I knew you were nervous about it last night." My smile got even wider, if that was possible. I couldn't believe that he had come all the way to Forks (not like it was that far, but still) just to see how my first day at school had went. There was this strange feeling in my stomach, kind of like it was floating up into my chest, and I couldn't look away from him. He noticed I was staring at him and he said, "What?"

I couldn't stop myself from giggling then. "Nothing," I said.

"So how was it?" he asked again. And then he grabbed my hand and held it in both of his. It was kind like his hands were swallowing mine whole, they were so much larger than mine. And they were incredibly warm, just like the rest of him. And I let him hold it. It felt nice, the way his fingers seemed to heat mine up. So I sat back and told him all about my day, from the friends I had made to the way everyone had stared to me and how uncomfortable it made me feel. And for the first time in a while, everything just felt _right_. It was almost as if there was nothing that could top sitting there on Emma's couch, talking to Seth about my nerve-wracking day. And the weirdest part was the fact that I really wished that things could stay like this. But of course, once you stop wish that things could stay perfect forever, something just has to go wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** The wonderful world of Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to take her characters hostage from time to time. I do own the characters you don't recognize.

**A/N: **I was asked a question in the reviews and I figured it would be better to answer it here. I do have this story outlined but its not really set in stone yet. I want to add in pieces of Breaking Dawn so it can be as canon as possible, but I'm sure there are a few things I'll have to leave out. And I know I need a beta for this since I'm not exactly great with grammar but I'm not sure where to get one. I'll definitely start looking around for one though. Thank you so much to Bible Chick, Lecia, LittleStarThingys, Angelina, Laurelyn, Mistress Persephone, Nikkirenzo59, Zukra3 and broken.hearted.dark.angel (I think lol) for the reviews!! I'm so glad you guys like this story as much as I do. I hope you enjoy this chapter!!

**Chapter 5**

The next day at school was strange, although not as strange as the first. Chase must have been waiting for me because he grabbed my arm as soon as I had stepped off the bus and brought me over to a deserted hallway. He looked around as if he thought the walls had ears and then he leaned in closely and said, "You can't tell anyone what Lydia told you yesterday."

"I won't," I said. I was beginning to think that Chase had snapped completely. He stared hard at me for a long time, not saying anything. "Really Chase. It's okay. I'm good at keeping secrets."

He raised an eyebrow at me and said, "You better be. I'm not above hitting a girl if this gets out."

I had to laugh at that. "Why are you so worried, anyways?" I asked. I didn't think this town was _that_ homophobic, but then again I'd only been here for four days.

He snorted and looked at me as if I had just asked the stupidest question in the world. Maybe I had. "This town isn't exactly San Francisco, Liz. And it's small… it wouldn't take long to reach my mother if the truth ever got out and this would kill her. Besides, I've spent years building up my reputation here and I don't want to see it go down in flames."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes even though I did feel bad for him. It must be awful, having to hide something that essential to who he was from his mother. "Well, don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone."

He smiled then and I could see that all of his anxiety was gone. "Good," he said.

"So don't hurt Lydia, ok?" I said, half joking. I could tell he was still angry with her. He had mentioned that he would hit a girl if it came to it and I wasn't sure if he was just joking around. Besides, everything was fine now.

His expression darkened. "I can't make any promises."

To say I was slightly worried when I went off to my first class would be an understatement. Sammy managed to convince me that everything would be fine though. Apparently Chase and Lydia got into fights like this frequently and they've yet to come to physical blows.

Lydia was waiting for me outside the cafeteria doors later. "Hey," I said when I saw her. "Is everything all right?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she asked, confused.

I shrugged and said, "Chase seemed pretty angry this morning."

She laughed. "Oh, right. He's fine now. You shouldn't take Chase too seriously, you know. He's all bark and no bite." Then she smiled and asked, "So who was that yesterday?"

I could feel the blush rising up the back of my neck. "What are you talking about?" I asked. I was playing dumb. It was stupid but I did not want to share Seth with my friends. There was a side of me, a very new side of me that was getting bigger and louder every day, that was very possessive of him. It was unsettling and I wasn't really sure that I liked it.

"The hella cute guy that was on your doorstep yesterday!" she said, looking as if she knew exactly what I was doing. "I believe you called him Seth."

"Oh." I shrugged and said, "He's just a friend. I met him my first night here. His mother is friends with my aunt."

"_Just_ a friend? Why is he just your friend?" I gave her a strange look and she sighed. "Guys like that should never be just a friend, Liz."

"Why not?" I asked. What was wrong with being friends with Seth? I don't think there was a way I could give him up as a friend, I enjoyed his company way too much. He was the only person in this whole town that I felt completely comfortable around.

"Because he was hot!" she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Which, I guess, it was. Seth was very attractive. "And he looked like he was into you."

"Wait," I said, stopping right in the middle of the cafeteria. I stared at her in surprise. "What do you mean?" She laughed at me and kept walking to the table where everyone was sitting. I hurried after her, trying not to trip or drop my plastic tray in my haste. When I got there, I said, "What does that mean?"

"What does what mean?" Sammy asked curiously.

I ignored her and watched Lydia as she laughed at me. "Oh, come on!" I said, exasperated. "You can't say something like that and then not explain!"

"Damn, Liz," she said, trying to stifle her laughter now. "I thought you were smart. I guess not."

"What are you guys talking about?" Sammy asked, looking a bit annoyed at being left out of our conversation.

"Nothing," I muttered.

Lydia smirked at me before saying, "There was this super hot Quileute guy waiting for Liz on her doorstep yesterday and apparently they're just friends."

I sighed loudly. "I just met him!"

"Like that's an excuse," Lydia smiled.

Sammy rolled her eyes at her. "Who is he?"

I stopped myself from groaning. I really didn't want to go into this again. "His name is Seth. His mother is friends with my aunt so I met him my first night here."

"And he is tall, dark and handsome," Lydia said, smiling at me. I rolled my eyes although I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks. They both noticed the fact that I was blushing and teased me mercilessly about it.

Twenty minutes later, my face was as red as a tomato. I was determined to avoid Lydia on the way to gym so I left before she had finished eating. The locker room was empty so I sat at the foot of my locker, thinking about what Lydia had said. I didn't know what to think about she was saying and it was giving me a headace. I had made the decision not to think about Seth in that way last night, after he had left. This thing I was developing for him was wrong. He was my friend, the only person in this whole god-forsaken town that I felt completely comfortable around. And he was definitely out of my league, not only was he incredibly good-looking but he was such a sweet, nice guy. It's not that I think I'm the ugliest creature on the Earth, but I remember all too clearly the time I had asked my tenth grade lab partner out on a date. I believe his exact response was, _"I don't date twelve year old boys."_ No girl could come out of something like that with her self esteem intact. There was no way I was going to let Seth reject me like that. And anyways, if it had ever come to that, it would pretty much mean the end of our friendship which wasn't something I was looking forward to. To be honest, the whole thing ended up making me feel kind of depressed. I was glad when gym started, it was a welcome distraction.

Chase and Lydia had made up by the end of the day. I was beginning to believe what Sammy had said about them having a rocky love/hate relationship. I actually think they would have made a very good couple if Chase, you know, wasn't into guys. He was nice enough to give us both a ride again and I was annoyed at the disappointment I felt when I saw that Seth wasn't waiting for me this time. He didn't have to be around me all the time, even though I wanted him there. It scared me, how much I wanted him there. I was definitely going to have to work on that.

--

The week passed by in a similar fashion. The students at Forks High still stared at me as if I were some kind of anomaly. I still wished they would stop but I did find myself getting used to it. Lydia and Chase were fighting on and off, which apparently was quite normal for them and Will still hadn't spoken a word in front of me. I mean, I know he was shy but this was a little ridiculous. But the weirdest thing was Seth. He didn't talk to me, didn't make any attempt at seeing me or calling me after my first day at school. I missed him in the worst possible way. It was like an ache that seemed to get worse with each passing day. And it made me angry too. Seth had no obligation to me and yet… I couldn't help but wish that he would at least call. I felt anxious and jumpy and I needed my friend there to calm me down. And I was strangely worried about him as well. It was definitely something that I did not want to think about but it wouldn't seem to stay in the back of my mind, no matter how hard I tried.

Finally, it was Friday night and I was at home, bored out of my mind. I was beginning to doubt what Emma had said, that things would be that different here. I was still the same person and she was so much like my father in some ways, even though she'd never admit it. She was just as absorbed in her work as he had been. She really loved her job, which explained why she was so dedicated, but she worked a lot. She usually left before I had even gotten up for school and didn't get back until late in the evening. I couldn't really blame her for this, she was so used to being alone in the house that I think my constant presence unnerved her. It was something we would both have to get used to. And it's not like I really minded. I was used to taking care of myself. There were a few moments when it truly baffled me though; this was supposed to be over. Wasn't that why I had been sent here, so I could 'be the kid,' as Emma had said? Because standing at Emma's sink, washing all the dishes from that day, felt so much like my life in Boston that I couldn't see why I had to come here at all. I could have done this easily at my mother's house on the north side. For one moment, I felt a sharp intense longing for my home on the east coast. I knew that if I were there right now, I would be out window shopping on Newbury Street or sneaking into the Fenway AMC movie theater with my friends. There was so much I missed about Boston. It was a hard thing to reconcile, how it was so different here yet still the same.

"Want some help?" I heard a low, husky voice say. This wasn't right. There wasn't supposed to be anyone in the house with me. Well, except for Emma, but she was sleeping upstairs. Besides, the voice was too masculine to belong to Emma. And where was that stupid dog? Shouldn't she be scaring the intruders away?

I gasped and spun around, my eyes wide in fright. My head was full of scenarios of chainsaw-clutching psyopaths so I was relieved when I noticed the wide, goofy smile and warm brown eyes. "Seth!" I said, punching him on the arm. It really _hurt_ doing that, too. My entire hand started throbbing. "Fuck!" I muttered, slowly flexing out my hand. He looked worried as he grabbed my hand and held it up to his eyes so he could check for bruises. "God, is your arm made of stainless steel or something?" I complained, trying not to whine. His muscles were really hard, it felt like I had decided to punch a brick wall. I winced as he started to touch certain parts of my hand. He was tracing my fingers delicately, checking for breaks, and I could feel the soft, feather-light touch even through the pain. And then my stomach started to rebel. It felt like I was going down a huge drop on a rollercoaster. And my hand was burning. I didn't know if it was the simple contact, the way Seth touched my hand as if he would do anything to take the pain away, or the fact that Seth himself was just unnaturally warm. I tried to convince myself that it was the latter but I had a small nagging feeling that I had it all wrong. My hand started trembling thing and I tried to pull it away from him. I didn't want him to notice that he had this effect on me. He shouldn't be affecting me like this. I had only just met him. This would only end badly.

He held onto it though, and pulled me directly under one of the lights on the other side of the kitchen. "I don't think it's broken," he said, still examining it. "We should have Emma check it out, though."

"No!" I said. "She's sleeping. I don't want to wake her."

He stared at me for a minute and I took that moment to look him over. He was wearing a pair of faded jean cut-offs, even though it was incredibly cold out. They had small holes in certain spots, worn from too much use, and there were smudges of dried mud on them. He was also wearing a black t-shirt that had streaks of dirt on it. It was a little bit too small, the shape of his muscles showing clearly through the shirt. I swallowed hard and looked up at his eyes, hoping he hadn't caught me ogling him.

He had been watching me and I felt my neck getting hot again. There was a small smile on his face and he said, "Yes, I do have muscles of steel." I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. I could feel the strange sense of calm washing over me again. It was strange how I was only able to really push those strange feelings developing for Seth out of my mind when he was here, with me. It didn't make any sense, I should be feeling even more awkward and yet he was able to put me at ease just by being here. He dragged me over to the freezer and said, "You should put ice on it while I drive you over to the hospital."

I dug my heels into the floor in resistance, although it didn't really work well on the tiles. "No! I'm not going to the hospital!"

"Why not?" he asked. He was looking at me with this strange look, a mixture of worry and guilt.

"Because I'm fine!" I said, flexing the muscles in my hand to show him. I tired to hide my wince. It did still hurt but it wasn't as bad as before. "See, it's perfectly fine."

He didn't look like he believed me but he sighed and said, "Will you at least put ice on it?" I rolled my eyes and nodded. He opened the door to the freezer and started looking through it. "Why did you try to punch me anyways?"

I could hear the amusement in his voice. "You scared me," I said, feeling a little stupid now. "You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

He emerged from the freezer with a bag of frozen peas. "Sorry," he smirked.

I grabbed the bag and put it over my throbbing hand. We both sat down at the table and I asked, "How'd you get in here, anyways?"

"I know where Emma hides her key," he said, still smirking at me.

"And you always just come walking in unannounced like that?" I asked. It's a good thing Emma doesn't like to vacuum in the nude.

"I was knocking for a while," Seth said. It was a perfectly normal reason but for some reason, I didn't entirely believe him. He looked almost too innocent, like he was hoping I would accept this with no questions.

"Oh," I said. He stared at me in silence, a small smile on his face and I got that weird tingly feeling again. I looked down at my hand and noticed that it was already starting to swell.

It was weird. Seth was incredibly wet, like he had spent most of the day outside in the rain. And judging by the amount of dirt on his clothes, I'd guess that he'd just got back from rolling around in the forest. I had no idea how he got here, I hadn't even noticed a car pulling up. It would have been hard to miss, the kitchen's wide entryway was placed directly across from the large windows in front of the house and I would have seen the headlights. But he had to have gotten here somehow. It's not like he could have walked, the distance was too far and it had been raining all day. And he should have been freezing, being that wet. It was so cold outside, much colder than it is at this time in Boston, but he didn't seem to feel it. It was all very suspicious. Once again, I felt like I was missing out on something big.

"So… what? You just decided to randomly stop by again?" I asked, returning his smile.

"Something like that," he muttered. He looked down at the table as he said it and I knew he wasn't telling the truth again.

It can be so frustrating when you know someone is keeping something from you. "What do you want, Seth?" I asked, my tone sharper than I meant.

The guilt became more pronounced on his face. "I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said softly. His voice was sad and I immediately felt bad. I shouldn't be snapping at Seth. It was true he was hiding something from me but that wasn't why I was annoyed. Those feelings, the ones that were so very, very wrong, had forcefully come back when I felt his eyes on me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm fine. Or at least I was until you showed up." I was joking but I could see the guilt plainly on his face. "Hey," I said, grabbing his hand, "I was only kidding, Seth."

"Are you sure you don't want to have it looked at?" he asked.

"No. Definitely not," I said. The way he looked at me then reminded me of Sophie. It was the same look she always had when she wanted someone to slip her some food under the table. His eyes were still so warm but there was a hint of sadness. It was like he was only a step away from begging. "If it's still bad in the morning, I'll have Emma take a look at it, okay?"

"Thank you," he smiled. Then his whole body tensed up and he scowled. "I better go."

"Why?" I asked. I hoped he wouldn't notice the sadness in my voice. It would be better if he didn't know that I wanted him to stay.

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm supposed to be working right now. I had to sneak out so I could some see you."

I laughed at that. It felt nice, knowing that he had snuck out of work just to see me. I didn't feel as pathetic now for missing him so much during the week. "What do you do, anyways?"

His body tensed up even more, if that was possible. His eyes were wide, as if he were frightened by the question, and he swallowed noisily. "I… Well, you see," he started, but then he whipped around and stared out the kitchen window, as if someone had just called his name from the backyard. "I really have to go," he said.

"Oh, ok," I said, confused by his response. He had seemed truly scared to answer my simple question. It must have tied in with whatever security detail Sam Uley was running, maybe Seth had to guard the vast riches they were hiding in La Push from all the crazed villains of the world. Maybe he wasn't allowed to tell anyone about his job. I had to wonder again what exactly it was that they were hiding down in La Push.

He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug. It felt so much like the one from my first night here. He was just so warm that I could feel every inch of him pressed against me, even through the bulky sweatshirt I was wearing. And there was the scent of salt water and pine again. I liked the way he smelled much more than I should have and I found myself trying to smell him discreetly. He must have noticed, though, because he chuckled. And I could feel his laughter and his warm breath on the side of my neck. My whole body stiffened then, it felt like there were these giant things jumping around in my stomach. I tried to pull away but he held on to me. "Bye Liz," he said softly, his breath hot on my ear, and then he let me go. He smiled at me once more before leaving. This smile was different though. There was an edge to it and I couldn't figure out if it was good or bad.

I walked into the hallway then and looked out the front windows. There was no car there. No one had come to pick him up. Even more, Seth wasn't out there either. I looked up and down the street a couple times and I could not see him anywhere. This was just getting stranger now. Something weird was going on in this small town and I had a feeling that Seth was right in the middle of it.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to play in her world from time to time. I do own Liz, Emma, and everyone else that you don't recognize so please step off. 

**A/N:** I'm sorry it took me so long to get this new chapter up. I had a little bit of trouble with it so I started working on a small little extra to go along with this story… plus I had to take some time out to read Breaking Dawn! And I'm going to apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes.. I wanted to get this up quickly so I'm not spending as much time as I should editing it. Many thank yous to Bible Chick, Nikirenzo59, gymgurl, LebaneseBella08TJ, Day of the Wolf, LittleStarThingys, Wannabe Werewolf1813, sakuraxcherryxblossom, Haily-Stone and Lecia for all of your reviews! You guys are awesome! And as a way to show my appreciation for all of my reviewers, I will be sending out the extra I wrote to anyone who reviews this chapter (as long as you leave a signed review OR an email address). It's just a small thing... a little over 3500 words showing Seth's POV of Chapter 2. I hope you all like this chapter and please review!

**Chapter 6**

I woke up the next morning to a face full of dog fur and the telephone ringing incessantly. I groaned and tried to maneuver around Sophie (which was not easy) so I could answer the phone. "Hello?" I asked, feeling very groggy.

"Liz!" Seth said, sounding relieved. "Where have you been? Are you okay?"

"What?" I asked, confused now.

"I've been calling you for the last hour," he explained. "I wanted to know if you wanted to come to La Push today but I got worried when you didn't answer."

"I was sleeping."

"Oh," he said softly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I can call you back later. Or you could call –"

"Seth," I laughed, interrupting him. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

"I wasn't worried," he said, sounding as if he were sulking on the other line.

"All right," I said, holding in my laughter.

We both sat in silence then and I was starting to feel really awkward. "So…" he said then, sounding a lot happier, "Do you want to come over?"

"Sure," I said. I glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already past noon. "I think Emma's already at work though so I don't really have a way to get there."

"Don't worry about it." I could practically hear the smile in his voice. "I'll be there in thirty minutes, okay?"

"Wait," I said. Thirty minutes was definitely not enough time to get ready but he had already hung up. I sighed and then got out of bed, hurrying around to get ready. I rushed through my shower and yet I had still only just finished getting dressed when I heard the doorbell. "Hold on!" I yelled down before throwing my shoes on and running down the stairs. Seth didn't wait for me to open the door, though. He already had it open when I got there and I rolled my eyes at him. "Haven't you ever heard that patience is a virtue?" I teased.

He smiled at me. "Yes. Unfortunately, it's not one that I have." We both laughed. "Come on," he said, "Jake's waiting for us."

"Hold on," I said. I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a package of Pop Tarts and then hurried back out into the living room.

Seth grabbed my hand. "You might want to hide those," he said, still smiling at me. He must have noticed the confused look on my face because he said, "Jake loves the strawberry ones. There's little he won't do to get his hands on them."

"Okay," I said, slipping them into the front pocket of my sweatshirt. I followed him over to a small red Volkswagen and climbed into the back. "Hello Jacob," I said politely.

He watched me in the rearview mirror. His eyes were narrowed and there was a slight crease in his forehead as if he were trying really hard to put a puzzle together. The way he was looking at me made me think he was trying to figure _me_ out. I couldn't explain why but I did not like that thought at all and I found myself glaring back at him. Seth noticed our exchange and chuckled softly. He elbowed Jacob in the side and Jacob shook his head. "Hello," he said softly before starting the car.

The ride to La Push was awkward. Jacob still looked incredibly upset about something. I could tell that he did not want to be here, driving Seth and I around, and I had to wonder what kind of favor Seth had called in to get him to do it. "So Jacob," I said, trying to make a little conversation, "Where did you go before?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, throwing a dirty look at Seth.

"I didn't say anything," Seth said, frowning.

I rolled my eyes at the two of them. "I thought the bonfire last weekend was some kind of Welcome Back party." He nodded reluctantly and I said, "Well, I just assumed that they wouldn't be welcoming you back if you had just gone to the store to get milk."

"You shouldn't assume things," Jacob said softly. "You'll make an ass out of yourself." I rolled my eyes as Seth elbowed him hard in the side again. He sighed dramatically, "I was in Canada."

"Where in Canada?" I asked curiously.

"The Yukon," he said shortly. I could tell he didn't want to be having this conversation but that didn't mean I was going to stop. To be honest, I found annoying him to be pretty amusing.

"The Yukon? What's up there?" I asked, confused. From what I'd heard of that place, it didn't sound very exciting. Why would he go there?

"Canadians," he said, rolling his eyes at me. "And a lot of snow, ice and glaciers."

I could tell I wasn't going to get anything else out of him. "Sounds exciting," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jacob smiled an actual, genuine smile and I had to give myself a pat on the back for putting it on his face. I was beginning to doubt if he could actually smile since he always looked so depressed. "It's not," he said. "I wouldn't recommend going there."

"I don't really think anyone would ever _want_ to go there," I said, smiling back at him.

We reached Seth's house then and I climbed out of the car. Seth followed me out but stopped when Jacob shouted, "Hey!" We both turned back to look at him and he held his hand out expectantly. "Gas isn't exactly cheap, you know."

Seth scowled. "I don't have any money, you know that."

"Well you better find some," he said, smirking at Seth.

"Look, I'll just pay you back later, alright?"

"I don't think so," Jacob said. "I only accept cash. No IOUs. Although I might make an exception for those Pop Tarts."

I rolled my eyes and Seth groaned. "Man, come on, that's her –"

"It's alright," I said, interrupting him. I pulled the package of Pop Tarts out of my pocket and chucked them through the open window, straight at his head. His hand came up in a blindingly fast motion and he caught them right before they smacked him in the forehead.

"Nice try! But you're going to have to throw them harder next time," he called out, still smirking at us.

"Don't worry, I will," I said softly. Jacob must have heard me though because he was laughing as he backed out of the driveway.

"Come on," Seth said, laughing softly. "I think we have some food inside." I followed him into the kitchen and ended up making some toast while Seth sat at the table and watched me. I could feel his eyes as they followed me around the room and instead of making me feel uncomfortable, it actually felt nice. My body was so aware of him and I liked it much more than I should. "So," he said, startling me. "Do you always sleep so late?"

"No," I said, shaking my head. He raised an eyebrow at me when I didn't explain further and I had to hold in a sigh. He was very nosy. "I've been having trouble sleeping lately."

"Why?" he asked.

I shrugged. I didn't want to tell him the truth, that I had stayed up late last night trying to figure out what was up with him. He would probably think that I had lost my mind. And then he would promptly get Jacob to drive me back to Emma's because I doubt he would want to hang out with me after finding out how often I thought about him. Once I was done eating, I looked up at him and said, "So what are we going to do today?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you want."

I smiled as I got up. "Well, I want to go to First Beach." He grinned back at me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out the door. We walked in a comfortable silence and I found myself enjoying it. He didn't let go of my hand and I didn't pull away. It felt very nice, the way his warmth seemed to envelop my whole hand. I could even feel it shooting its way up my arm.

I almost didn't want to break the silence but I had to say something. It had bothered me last night when I realized that while Seth was hands down my best friend here (in fact, he was quickly becoming the best friend I'd ever had), I still didn't know all that much about him. "Tell me something about yourself," I said softly, feeling kind of stupid.

He stopped short and said, "Like what?" He had this puzzled look on his face, his brow was furrowed and his mouth was turned down slightly at the corners. I simply couldn't stop myself from acknowledging how adorable he looked.

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "What's your favorite color?"

He looked relieved at my question, although I had no idea why, and started walking again. "Blue." I laughed and rolled my eyes at him. "What's so funny?"

"Blue?" I asked. "Could you get anymore generic?"

"And what's yours?" he asked, smiling to show that he was joking around. "Wait, let me guess. Pink?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, making a disgusted face. "It's green, actually."

"You must love it here," he said, gesturing to the trees that surrounded us. They were covered in a dark green moss.

I sighed, "I don't know. There is such a thing as overexposure, you know?"

He laughed and shook his head at me. "What was that about, anyways?"

I felt the back of my neck getting hot. "I don't know," I said. "I guess I just wanted to know more about you."

He smiled then, a huge smile that I thought might crack his face. I don't think I had ever or would ever see him happier than he was in that moment. We walked through the last few trees then and reached the beach. He brought me over to one of the bone-colored driftwood trees, sat down, and motioned for me to sit down next to him. Then he told me everything, from what his favorite video game was (Halo 3) to how his father had died. I continued to hold his hand, stroking the back of it with my thumb when I saw that he was having trouble talking about his dad. The sun came out while he was talking and I couldn't tear my eyes away from him. The sunlight seemed to light up his face, making his skin look slightly darker and bringing out a few dark brown streaks in his black hair. He was absolutely beautiful and it made my heart ache a little. The way he had been acting all morning had given me a little bit of hope, like maybe I wasn't the only one with the more-than-friends feelings, but I realized in that moment that I couldn't have been more wrong. There was no way someone that looked like could ever be interested in me. But I was fine with that. I would gladly take whatever this beautiful boy was willing to give me.

After he had talked for over an hour, we were interrupted by someone a little further down the beach yelling out, "Hey lovebirds!"

Seth scowled at whoever it was and then turned to me, looking a little scared. I was frowning at the mystery person and I think he might have thought that I was offended. "Sorry," he said, although I don't know why he was apologizing for whoever this person was. "Quil doesn't think before he opens his big mouth sometimes."

"It's fine," I said, smiling at him. I tried to drop his hand but he just held on harder.

"Hey wuvbwids," the little girl with Quil said. I was pretty sure she was the same one from the bonfire last weekend. She had the same russet colored skin that seemed so prevalent on the reservation and curly black hair that reached her waist.

"Hi Claire," Seth said, smiling at her.

"Who is her?" she asked, pointing at me.

"Come on, kid," Quil said, lowering her hand. "You know it's not nice to point." He was stern with her but still incredibly gentle. It was weird to see Quil like this. He didn't look like he was old enough to be a father and yet there was no other way to explain how he was acting with this little girl. Claire completely ignored his rebuff though, as if she knew there was no way he would ever punish her, and repeated her question.

"This is my friend Liz," Seth said.

"Hi Liss!" she said. "I'm Cwaire."

"Hi Claire!" I said, smiling at her. "How are –" I was cut off by a loud howling coming from the forest behind us. I had to admit, I was a little scared. I wasn't very fond of wild animals and I hadn't realized that the animals out here came this close to civilization.

I was apparently the only one who was scared though. Claire giggled and tried to imitate it while Quil and Seth exchanged a strange look. "Do you think you could take them to Emily's?" Quil asked.

"Yeah," Seth said. He stood up and grabbed Claire's hand. "Tell Sam I'll be there as soon I'm done." Quil nodded and then took off into the trees.

"Where's he going?" I asked curiously. I was definitely a little confused about this. Why was Quil running into the forest, towards the wolf? And why would Sam care about it? Maybe that's what their security detail was about, keeping the wolves away from the reservation. But Emma had mentioned something about how the wolves were very prominent in the Quileute legends, so that didn't make any sense either. All of this suspicious behavior was really starting to get to me.

"Oh, he uh… had to go tell Sam something about his last shift," Seth said, obviously lying. "In fact, I should probably go talk to Sam too. Do you mind hanging out with Claire and Emily for a while?"

I stopped walking and stared at him. I was hurt that he was lying to me and I knew he could see that on my face. "Seth, what's going on?"

"Liz, I promise I'll tell you everything when I get back," he said, his eyes pleading with me. "I just… I don't have time right now. I really have to go see Sam."

"I'm going to hold you to that," I said as we starting walking again.

Seth laughed. "I'm counting on it."

We got to Emily's shortly after that. "Auntie Emiwy!" Claire screamed as soon as we walked in the door.

Emily rushed into the room, a panicked look on her face. "Seth?" she asked, sounding very surprised. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Seth said. "I just have to go talk to Sam about something. Is it alright if they stay here with you?"

"Of course," she said, smiling kindly at the two of us. She took Claire's hand from Seth. "Come on Claire, let's go play with your barbies."

"I wuv barbies!" Claire said excitedly.

Once they were both out of the room, Seth turned to me and laid his hand against my cheek. "Just stay inside here and listen to Emily, okay?" he said.

"Why?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Because it will keep you safe," he said. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Then he leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. I couldn't stop the contented sigh from escaping my lips. His lips felt so soft and warm on my skin as he lingered there for a couple seconds. Then he pulled back and smiled his trademark goofy grin.

"Bye," I said, the sadness evident in my voice. I didn't want to see him go. I wanted to follow him but for some reason I knew I should stay here. It was what he wanted. I felt kind of pathetic for doing this, since he had just lied to me so blatantly, but I couldn't make myself leave. I felt the shock run through me then. I must have had it really bad for this boy.

"Bye," he whispered, his voice just as sad as mine. His smile had changed; it was small and sad now. Then he turned around and ran out of the house towards the forest, taking his shirt off as he went.

This was just getting weirder now. I wondered if Emily knew anything about Seth's strange behavior. It couldn't hurt to ask, right? I walked into the other room and found her sitting on the floor with Claire, brushing the hair of a Barbie doll in a blue evening gown. "Hi Emily," I said.

"Liss!" Claire shouted. She jumped up and ran over to me. "Come pway barbies!" She grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where she had set up all of her dolls. She shoved a brown-haired one in my hand. "Put a dwess on her! She needs to be weady for the bawl!"

"The what?" I asked, trying to hold in my laughter. I knew Claire meant that she was going to be holding some kind of dance for her stupid dolls, but the way she said it made it sound like there was going to be some kind of knock-out, drag-down brawl between the gown-wearing Barbies.

"The dance!" she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She plopped down right in my lap and I had to smile at her. She was definitely very friendly for someone so young.

We worked in silence then, getting the dolls ready for Claire's ball. The only sound came from Claire, who was singing a song I had never heard under her breath. She was also quick to admonish us if we had dressed one of them in something that she didn't think was appropriate, or if their hair was not up to her standard. It was amusing to listen to her. I had never really liked dolls as a child and I didn't realize that anyone could be that militant about their appearance. What was more, I found myself really liking Claire. I had never been that fond of kids, they were usually too loud and sticky for me, but I was having fun playing dolls with her. This town was officially driving me insane, I think.

As I brushed the Barbie's hair, I was trying to think of a way I could casually ask Emily about my suspicions. I didn't think there was any way I could bring it up that would make her spill everything so I would have to watch her facial expressions closely. Finally, I decided the best course of action would be to just come right out with it. "Emily, are there a lot of wolves in the forest around here?" I asked, probably sounding a little too innocent.

Emily gasped. There was a strange mixture of surprise and suspicion written all over her face. Oh yeah, she definitely knew what was going on here. It took her a minute to compose herself and then her face went blank. "I think so," she said. "Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "We heard one out on the beach. I didn't know they got so close to civilization. I thought most wild animals tried to stay as far from people as they could."

Emily swallowed nervously. "No, they usually don't come this close to the reservation. It was probably just looking for food."

"Isn't that dangerous though?" I asked, not hiding my curiosity now. "Is that why Quil and Seth had to take off into the woods, so they could find it and make sure it didn't hurt anyone?"

Emily completely avoided my question by saying, "Oh no! I completely forgot about the chicken in the oven!" She jumped up and ran into the kitchen, muttering something about how she hoped it wasn't burnt. It was at that moment that I knew without a doubt that Emily was in on whatever was going on in La Push. She knew why Quil and Seth had reacted so strangely to the wolves and why they had rushed off towards it. And somehow, I instinctively knew that the wolves were tied in with that weird security detail that Sam Uley was running.

I turned to Claire then. I knew she was young, probably no older than three, but I couldn't help but wonder if she knew a little bit about what was going on here. "Hey Claire, are there a lot of wolves around here?"

"I like wolves," she said. And then she threw her head back and started howling like one very loudly. I suddenly felt very stupid for asking Claire about it. I could only hope that Emily wouldn't realize what I had just done or if she had, she wouldn't mention it to anyone. I finally got Claire to stop howling and I played dolls with her for what felt like hours. She was a nice kid, and I did have fun at first but I was pretty close to blowing my brains out by the time Seth walked into the room.

"Hey," he said, smiling at the two of us as he sat down next to me. "Having fun?" Claire shoved a doll and a brush into his hands as soon as he was on the floor.

"Finally," I muttered. I had to admit, I was a little put out by the fact that he had asked me to come see him and then dumped me off at Emily's for most of the afternoon.

"Sorry," he said, the smile wiped clean off his face. "Something came up and Sam needed our help."

I ignored the pleading look on his face because I knew I would forgive him the second I looked into those sad brown eyes. "Are you ever going to tell me what's going on, Seth?" I asked, my tone a lot harsher than I intended.

He sighed and was about to say something when one of the other impossibly tall boys that Seth worked with walked in. He was gnawing on a drumstick but smiled when he saw us. "I didn't know you liked dolls, Seth," he said. "You know, I'd be really worried about you if you hadn't impr –"

Seth, whose face had turned a dark red, chucked the doll in his hand at the boy's head. "Shut up, Paul!" he practically hissed.

Paul ducked out of the way of the flying Barbie and laughed, accidently spitting out some of the chicken in his mouth with it. "Did I touch a nerve there?" Seth jumped up, his fists clenched and his arms trembling. He looked like he was ready to literally kill Paul and I couldn't help but think that he was really overreacting.

At the same time, Claire gasped and yelled, "Unca Seth! We do not throw Skipper!"

Quil must have heard Claire screaming because he rushed into the room and quickly assessed the situation in front of him. Then he grabbed Seth and tried to push him out of the room but Seth fought him off. "I'm fine!" he said, although it didn't really look like he was.

I was on my feet then too, watching this all unfold. I have to admit, I was a little frightened. I had never seen Seth that angry before… I didn't even think he was capable of getting that angry. But I could see now that he could do some real damage to someone, he was so big and muscular. I found myself actually feeling a little afraid for Paul, even though he was just as large as Seth was. Seth turned to look at me and his face fell. It was like he had just remembered that I was there. "Shit," he muttered under his breath. He walked over to where I was and reached for my hand slowly, like he thought I was going to be scared of him.

"Seth…" Quil said, almost as if he were warning him about something.

"It's fine," Seth said, smiling at him. His smile wasn't very genuine though and I started to wonder what the hell was going on with these guys. If I didn't find out soon, I think I was going to go crazy trying to figure it out. Seth turned to me and said, "Come on."

"Seth?" I asked, a little confused as he pulled me out of the house. "Where are we going?"

"I promised I'd tell you once I got back, didn't I?" he said. He looked scared and I couldn't understand why, whatever it was that he did couldn't really be that bad. I mean it's not like he sold drugs to kids or nuclear arms to terrorists. But the fact that he was practically dragging me into the forest must mean that his job wasn't exactly on the up and up.

Once we had reached a small clearing in the woods, he stopped walking and dropped my hand. Then he turned to face me and he looked both scared and nervous, which in turn only made me feel nervous. "You're not going to kill me and then bury my body out here, are you?" I asked, trying to relieve the tension.

He didn't seem to think this was amusing. He put both of his burning hands on my face and looked me directly in the eyes. "Liz, you have to promise me that you'll stay open-minded."

"Okay," I said, feeling even more confused now.

He sighed. His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my face. "Promise," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "I promise, Seth. I will stay as open-minded as I possibly can."

He bit his lip and took a step back. I wished he would be put his hands on my face again, it was cold and their warmth was definitely nice. "I'm a werewolf."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to play in her world from time to time. I do own Liz, Emma and whoever else you don't recognize so please don't try to take them.

**A/N:** Thank you to Bible Chick, Lecia, KajiMori, Nikkirenzo59, Hailey-Stone, sakuraxcherryxblossom, Ally, LebaneseBella08TJ, Day of the Wolf, Leave your hat on, hunterjumpertwilightfan, and gymgurl for the reviews! You guys are pretty much the reason why I ended up writing this so fast. I have another extra, a small one where Seth gets a little jealous of someone since Bible Chick said she'd like to see something like that. So review if you'd like to see it! And let me know what you think of the story, what you like and don't like or any kind of suggestions you might have. I also set up a livejournal for all of my fiction, and I'm posting the extras in there as well. So if you want to read them with all of the proper formatting then you can find it as the homepage link in my profile. They're friends only though so you'll have to friend the journal so you can read them. Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter as well!

**Chapter 7**

"I'm a werewolf."

I shook my head. There was no way that I had heard him correctly. "What?" I asked.

"I'm a werewolf," he repeated.

So I definitely wasn't hearing things. Now I couldn't decide if Seth had lost it or if he was just messing around with me. "No you're not."

"Yes I am," he said. The corners of his mouth were twitching as if he were trying to hold in a smile.

"Okay, Seth," I said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice. "You're a werewolf. And I'm Hermione Granger. And tomorrow I'm going to London so I can catch the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 and ¾."

Seth sighed in annoyance, although he broke out into a full-blown grin. "Liz, this isn't the time for your nerdy book, okay? I. Am. A. Werewolf. I'm not lying about this."

I was really starting to get annoyed with him now. I don't understand why he was playing this practical joke on me. It wasn't even funny. "Okay, Seth. Joke's over. If you don't want to tell me, that's fine. You can stop this stupid charade now."

"This isn't some kind of joke, Liz!" Seth said loudly, the exasperation evident in his voice and his smile was gone. He rubbed his forehead, like someone would do when they had a massive headache. "Shit," he muttered. "I'm doing this all wrong."

"Doing what?" I asked. I was starting to feel like I had a headache too. "Look Seth, maybe I should just go home."

"No!" he said, grabbing my hand. I fought the urge to pull away. I could tell now that he wasn't trying to mess around with me. He actually believed that he was a werewolf. I didn't know if that was worse. This was just great, my best friend and the guy that I was falling for was absolutely, completely, one hundred percent insane. As if he could read my mind, he said, "Liz, I'm not crazy. Just let me explain, okay?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. I really doubted there was any other explanation besides insanity, but I was willing to hear him out. "Alright."

He started to pace in front me. "Have you heard any of our legends?" he asked, not really looking at me.

"No," I answered.

"We have legends that claim we descended from wolves," he said. "But not normal wolves, really, but wolves that turn into men. And the true descendents of these wolves, or werewolves I guess, still carry the gene that causes the transformation. And it's triggered by our natural enemies."

"Werewolves have enemies?" I couldn't believe I was even going along with this. He was sounding crazier by the second, descending from werewolves whose DNA gets triggered whenever an enemy is near. He might as well have been writing a TV show for the science fiction channel.

"Just one," he said. "The Cold Ones." I raised my eyebrows skeptically at this, I had never even heard that name before but I'm sure it didn't mean something good. He stopped pacing and stood directly in front of me. "Vampires."

"Vampires? Oh come on, Seth," I said. I was really starting to get annoyed with him now. I reached out and pushed him back, although he didn't move an inch. "Did you and Quil dump Claire and I off at Emily's so you could do some peyote or something?"

"Liz, I'm not on drugs!" he said. He sounded exasperated but I could see the corners of his mouth twitching, as if he was trying to fight a smile. "There are such things as vampires. They're the reason why we're here, actually. There was a family of them living near here and they set off the genetic mutation. We hunt the ones that come into this area so they won't hurt anyone."

"You hunt them?" I asked. "What? Did Buffy contract you guys out?"

"Come on, Liz," he said, his face falling. "You promised you would be open minded about this."

"Seth, how can I be open minded about something like this?" I asked, practically shouting in my annoyance. "You sound like a complete lunatic! Werewolves and vampires are **not** real! I mean, what are you going to tell me next, that Claire is actually a three hundred year old fairy?"

Seth smiled at that. He actually smiled! He was obviously losing his damn mind if he thought smiling at me right then was a good idea. "Don't be stupid, Liz," he said. "There's no such thing as fairies."

I groaned in frustration and turned back towards the woods. "Just take me home, Seth," I said as I made my way towards the trees.

His burning hot hand was on my shoulder then, stopping me before I could make it into the forest. I whirled around, ready to yell at him again but I stopped when I saw the expression on his face. He looked so upset, like a little kid who had just found out that Santa Clause wasn't real. "Wait, please," he said softly, his voice sad and pleading. "Look, I'll… I can prove it to you, okay? Just don't leave."

"Prove it how?" I asked. I knew I shouldn't be encouraging his delusions but I had to admit, I was really curious about how he would go about proving something that outrageous.

"I'll phase," he said simply.

"Phase?" I asked, confused.

"Yes," he said slowly, as if he were talking to a five year old. "I'll turn into one right now."

"Don't you need a full moon for that?" I asked, skeptically. This was such a bad idea. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I could just picture him now, getting down on all fours and howling at a moon that wasn't out yet.

"Of course not," he said, looking at me as if he thought I was the crazy one. This was just great, he wasn't even following werewolf canon so I had no idea what exactly I was dealing with. And then he took his shirt off.

"What are you doing?" I asked shrilly, trying to avert my eyes. Seth's chest was very muscular for someone so gangly and it was hard not stare at it. And I did not want to be ogling him right now. I mean, he thought he was a werewolf, for crying out loud! It's not a good thing when you find yourself attracted to the mentally unhinged.

"I can't wear these," he explained. "It'll completely shred them if I do and I'm running low on pants as it is." Oh, this was just great. Not only was he going to get down on the ground and start howling like some kind of lunatic, but he was going to do it _naked_. This was getting more ridiculous by the second.

He quickly lost his jeans and then he was standing in front of me wearing only a pair of boxer shorts. I was trying not to stare at him, looking around at pretty much everything but him. "Liz," he said softly, as if standing practically naked in front of me was the most natural thing in the world. "Don't freak out, okay?"

I nodded, not really answering him. Of course I wasn't going to freak out because he only _thought_ he was going to turn into a werewolf. It's not like he was going to grow fur and start hunting around for human flesh. I mean, it wasn't even a full moon! I don't care what Seth said, every thing I had ever heard about werewolves involved full moons.

His whole body started to shake, as if he was really pissed off about something, and then fur literally exploded out of him. And suddenly, Seth wasn't standing in front of me anymore. Instead, there was an incredibly large sand-colored _beast_ in his place. It was more like a bear, really, because it was just so big but it had wolf-like features. I felt my eyes go wide and my mouth fell open in a mixture of shock and... well, fear. It's really stupid but I have always had this completely irrational fear of wolves. It had started when I was really young and watched some stupid television show in which a rabid, blood-thirsty wolf got loose and tried to eat everyone in the town. I know it sounds completely ridiculous and yet… there it was. And this wolf that I was facing now was easily three times the size of any normal wolf, maybe more. I was barely five feet tall and it was around the same height as me. It was like I had just stepped into one of the nightmares I had had all the time when I was six.

"Oh my God," I whispered. Somehow, I knew that the wolf was Seth. It had the same warm brown eyes, eyes that were both too kind and too intelligent for an animal. So either he had been telling the truth or I was just as crazy as he was. But obviously we weren't crazy because what were the odds of us having the same kind of hallucination? And yet I found myself wishing that I was insane because… well, because my best friend had just turned into some kind of fucking giant wolf. He must have noticed the absolute fear written all over my face because he took a step towards me. I instinctively took a step back, not really wanting to be any closer to him at the moment. Then he whimpered and pawed at the ground.

Suddenly we weren't the only people in the clearing. Jacob and Leah came out of nowhere and stood between me and the giant wolf. Leah was facing Seth, yelling at him. "What were you thinking, Seth? You can't just –" And then suddenly I couldn't hear what she was saying anymore. The only thing I could pay attention to was the fact that Leah was shaking just like Seth had before he had exploded into a large mass of fur. Did this mean that Leah was one of them too? Did Sue know about this? There was a loud ringing in my ears and I was having a little bit of trouble breathing. I was officially freaking the fuck out.

Jacob was in my face then. "Liz, are you okay?" I shook my head slowly, still staring wide-eyed at the massive wolf in front of me. He turned to Leah and Seth and said, "Maybe you guys should get out of here." Seth whimpered again and stared sadly at me. Leah started stripping down and I knew that my suspicions were confirmed. Before she could morph into another wolf, Jacob stopped her. "Really, Leah, don't you think you could do that somewhere else?" She shot him a dirty look and then moved into the trees with Seth following reluctantly behind her. Then he turned to look at me. "Maybe you should sit down," Jacob said. "You look like you're going to hurl."

I sat down on the forest floor and put my head between my knees. Jacob patted my back, probably trying to calm me down, but I shuddered when I felt the burning hot warmth radiating off of his hand. Oh God, what if he was one of them too? Once I knew I wasn't going to throw up when I opened my mouth, I asked, "Are you a… a werewolf too?" The question would sound ridiculous to someone else but it was of the utmost importance to me at that moment.

"Will you freak out again if I say I am?" he asked.

"Probably."

"Well, then I plead the fifth," he said, smirking at me.

I groaned in annoyance. "Isn't that the same thing as admitting it?"

"No, it's more like I still have to drive you home and I don't want you to puke in my car."

That got my attention, the fact that he was going to take me home. Right now all I wanted to do was get in my bed and pretend that this whole day hadn't happened, that Seth hadn't just turned into some huge freaking werewolf. It was kind of cowardly, actually. I had just found out that the world was a lot different than I thought it was, the supernatural was actually real, and all I wanted to do was go home and act like there were no such things as werewolves and vampires and who knows what else. I got to my feet quickly and said, "Let's go."

We walked through the forest in silence and ended up at Sam and Emily's house again. "Wait here," Jacob said. "I'll go get my car." I sat down on the steps to the front door, hoping that no one would come out and try to talk to me right now. I wasn't really in any kind of state to have a conversation, I was still trying to find a way to explain away what I had just seen. Of course, luck wasn't on my side that afternoon.

I heard the front door open and watched out of the corner of my eye as Emily sat down next to me. "Liz? What's wrong?"

I didn't know what to say to her. I didn't know if she knew about the completely freakish genetic mutation that was turning La Push residents into huge beasts that fought the supernatural so I didn't want to bring it up. Frankly, I wished I didn't know about it. "Nothing," I said, staring straight ahead. I tried to keep my face void of all emotion so she wouldn't probe any further but I failed horribly. I didn't have a mirror on me but I just knew that I still looked completely freaked out.

She stared at me for a minute and then sighed. "Seth told you, didn't he?" Well, I guess she knew about the giant wolves then. I had no idea how she could be completely normal about this, it felt like my whole world had been turned upside down. I didn't really know what to say so I just nodded in response. "I know it's a little weird –"

I cut her off. "_A little_ weird? Really?"

She pursed her lips. "Okay, maybe it's more than a little weird but… he's still the same Seth he was before, Liz. And I know that you cared about that Seth a whole lot just an hour ago." What she was saying didn't make any sense to me. How much I cared about that Seth didn't matter because I knew the _real_ Seth now, the one who turned into a wolf so he could hunt vampires. That Seth, the before Seth, had been lying to me. Well, maybe not really lying but he had definitely been keeping things from me. I couldn't help but wonder if that's what he had been doing Friday night when he randomly showed up in my kitchen. I couldn't stop myself from shuddering at the thought of that giant wolf running around Emma's house.

Thankfully, I didn't have to answer her. Jacob's small red car pulled up. "Bye Emily!" I said, jumping up and running down to the car.

Once I was inside, Jacob cleared his throat. "Look Liz, you can't tell anyone about what you saw, okay?"

I laughed at that, probably sounding hysterical. "Like anyone would believe me," I said. "If I said anything about that to anyone, they would stick me in a padded room and throw away the key."

He nodded at that, probably silently agreeing with me. There was no way that anyone would believe me if I told them about this. Hell, I hardly believed it and I had just witnessed it first hand! Then he said, "He didn't ask for this, you know. None of us did."

"Jacob, I don't really –"

He interrupted me. "Just listen, okay? None of us even got a say in this, we were just born with it. We don't exactly revel in the fact that we're freaks of nature."

"So why do you do it?" I asked.

He barked out a hard laugh, the kind people use when they don't actually think something is funny. "It's not exactly something we can control." He shook his head. "We all thought they were just stories. We never imagined that they were our actual history, you know? Seth was the same way. He didn't even know it was real until one day he just turned into a wolf. Believe me, there is nothing freakier than that. And now he can't turn it off, although I'm sure he'll wish he could after today." He gave me a pointed look, letting me know that my reaction would affect Seth and the way he viewed this curse that fallen on all of them. And then it all came rushing back to me. This was Seth we were talking about, not some monster. I had kept picturing that wolf that I had been so scared of as a child, the one that had delighted in actually eating people. But that was just something from a horror movie, that wasn't Seth. Seth was kind and probably the sweetest guy I would ever meet. He wouldn't hurt an innocent human. He had even mentioned that he had to turn into a werewolf so he could protect people from vampires. Suddenly I felt incredibly guilty on top of everything else. I had seen exactly how much I had hurt him in his eyes before he had taken off into the woods earlier. And I didn't want to hurt him, even if he had really scared the crap out of me today.

I groaned and put my head in my hands. "I really hurt him, didn't I?" Jacob nodded. "I didn't… I mean, it's just so weird!"

"Believe me, I know," Jacob said.

"I just need some time, I guess," I said. It was the truth. And I didn't think I could be around Seth while I got used to it. Because it would definitely take some getting used to. I didn't want Seth around to see that, even though I didn't want to hurt him, I was still kind of scared of him. What can I say? It takes a while to get over your irrational fears.

Jacob nodded again, apparently satisfied with my answer. We had reached Emma's by then and I had to stifle a groan when I saw her car in the driveway. I really did not think I could keep a straight face for her right now, and there was no way I could tell her what was really going on with me. Somehow, I knew that '_Sorry, I'm just a little freaked out right because I just found out that your best friend's children turn into gigantic werewolves when vampires are near_' wouldn't really fly that well with her.

I walked into the house, trying to be as quiet as possible so that I could escape up to my bedroom. But that stupid mutt blew my cover by running into the living room, barking her head off. Emma stood in the doorway and said, "Liz, where have you…" She stopped when she saw my face. I hadn't looked in a mirror at all but I guess I looked pretty bad. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I just… don't feel good. That's all."

She nodded so I guess I must have still looked sick. "Where did you go?"

"I went over to Seth's," I said. Please don't let her say anything about that. I didn't think I could handle her teasing me about him right now.

She smiled like she had just won the lottery. "What did you guys do?" I shrugged and bit my lip. She frowned when she realized I wasn't going to say anything. "Did you guys get into a fight?"

"What?" I asked, my voice higher than normal. "No. Of course not."

She looked at me skeptically. "You don't look so good, Liz. Maybe you should go lay down." I nodded and made my way quickly to the stairs. "Hey Liz," she called after me. I turned around, praying that she wasn't going to push this right now. "Next time you go out, leave me a note. I had no idea where you were. I was getting really worried."

That kind of shocked me. I had never had to leave things like notes before, mostly because no one had ever really worried about where I was before. I nodded slowly before turning around and practically running up the stairs. I went straight for my bedroom and got into bed without even bothering to change out of the sweater and jeans I was wearing. I put my pillow over my head to block out all of the light and tried desperately not to think.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to play in her world from time to time. I do own Liz, Emma, and whoever else you don't recognize from the books though so please don't take them. :)

**A/N:** I'm sorry this one took so long to post. I got really wrapped up in one of my other stories (and not to shamelessly plug myself, but if you like The Host you should check it out :)) and there's been a bit of family drama going on with me. I'm sorry if there are any spelling or grammatical mistakes… I'm not taking as long as I usually do to edit and whatnot since I really want to get this up. Thank you to Nikkirenzo59, KajiMori, Perfect love kills all fear, LebaneseBella08TJ, gymgurl, daysandnights, Lecia, Bible Chick, tashman, Leave your hat on, LittleStarThingys, The Awkward Turtle, 4ever.n.ever, xxTunstall Chickxx, and youdontwant2no for all the reviews! I don't have an extra for this chapter but please review and let me know what you think anyways!!

**Chapter 8**

I knew I was dreaming and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I'm pretty sure that that's one of the worse feelings in the world, the fact that I knew this wasn't real and I couldn't do anything about it because I couldn't make myself wake up. I was in the middle of the forest but I wasn't exactly sure that it was me. My skin was paler than normal and it seemed to glow in the moonlight. And that was another strange thing about this dream, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The moon was full and bright and it lit up the entire forest. I was running through the trees at an alarming rate but stopped when I reached a small clearing. I had a strange feeling that there was danger near. I wanted to leave but something wouldn't let me.

It was then that I noticed the awful stench. It was like wet dog, only a million times stronger. I had no idea what could possibly smell that bad but I knew instinctively that I didn't like it, whatever it was. And then Seth walked into the clearing. There was something wrong, though. Instead of wearing his trademark goofy smile, he was glaring at me in hatred. And even though I was still a little scared of him, the way he looked at me made me feel like my heart was breaking into a million pieces.

"Seth," I said softly. I reached out to him but he evaded my hand by taking a step back. There was a flash of something in his eyes, something so familiar but so wrong at the same time, and then his face twisted up in pain. "Seth, it's ok." I had no idea why I was trying to comfort him but I just knew that I had to. I didn't want him to be in pain.

"No," he growled. And then he started shaking, much like he had that afternoon, and soon he exploded into fur and claws. His eyes were still full of hatred, even in wolf form. His lips lifted into a snarl and he started to growl at me.

"Easy," I said, trying to calm him down. I opened my mouth to say something else but he lunged at me. I could feel his teeth ripping into my shoulder but all I could do was scream.

And then I was back in my bed, screaming my head off. I was drenched in sweat and my heart was beating so fast that I thought it was going to break out of my ribcage at any second. I was having trouble breathing, like I had just run a marathon or two. "Oh fuck," I said. I checked my arms to make sure they weren't that strange pale color. I never thought I would be so relieved to see that I still had freckles.

I got up then, even though it was way too early. I knew I would never be able to sleep after that. I went downstairs to get some breakfast but as soon as it was in front of me, I couldn't eat it. All I could see in my head was the snarling wolf and the way he had lunged at me. But Seth wouldn't do that, would he? I couldn't imagine Seth going after someone like that, even as a wolf. What was it that he had said? The werewolves only hurt their one true enemy, the vampires. And I'm sure the vampires deserved it if they were sucking the blood of all of the people in town. Unless everyone was wrong about that too, and vampires didn't drink blood, like how Seth didn't need a full moon to turn into a werewolf. And I couldn't imagine Seth ever hurting me like that. Maybe I was just crazy but he always looked at me like he cared about me. There was never any hatred in his intense brown eyes. So this dream just had to be some kind of manifestation of my fear, right? That wasn't really Seth, it was just what had always come to my mind when I thought of wolves. But no matter how I tried to rationalize it, I was still scared out of my mind.

I hadn't even noticed that Emma had come downstairs until she said, "You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep," I said softly, moving the cereal in the bowl around with my spoon.

"Bad dream?" she asked. I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering how exactly she knew that. "I heard you screaming earlier," she explained.

"Oh," I said. Nice of her to check and make sure I was alright. It was a good thing I had been screaming because of a bad dream and not because some creepy rapist had climbed in my bedroom window or something.

She went about making toast while I stared blankly at my cereal. I couldn't get rid of the image of a lunging wolf with Seth's eyes. I couldn't take this anymore. I knew, logically, that that wasn't him but the irrational part of my brain kept reminding me that I didn't really know him at all. Emma sat down next to me then and asked, "What are you doing today?"

I shrugged. "Are you working today?"

"No," she said. "Actually, I was going to go to La Push today to see Sue. Do you want to come?" I shook my head frantically, which was a really stupid move on my part. Emma narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What's going on, Liz? I thought you liked Seth."

I groaned. "I barely know him!"

"Not like that," she said, sounding a little exasperated with me. "I just thought that you two were friends. What's going on?"

"Nothing," I muttered, turning back to my soggy cereal.

"Are you sure you didn't get into a fight?" she asked.

I sighed. Her concern was appreciated but I didn't really want to deal with it right now. "It was more like a little misunderstanding than a fight."

"Right," she said, rolling her eyes at me. "It was so little that you don't even want to see him today. What happened, Liz?"

"It's nothing, Aunt Emma," I said softly. "It'll be fine."

She pursed her lips and looked at me for a long moment. "It better be," she said finally. "I've been friends with Sue for over twenty years now. So I hope you can clear this whole thing up with Seth soon, Elizabeth."

I sighed. "I have a lot of homework to do," I said before I got up, put my bowl in the sink and stormed up to my room. I couldn't believe that she was going to keep pushing Seth on me, even when it was obvious that I wasn't in the mood for it. What did it matter if she was friends with Sue? This problem I was having with Seth had nothing to do with either of them. And this was just what I needed right now, more guilt over the fact that I can't stop freaking out because Seth turns into a giant wolf from time to time. I had to keep reminding myself that Seth was still Seth, changing into a wolf hadn't changed that. He didn't ask for it. It only happened because of his bloodline and I shouldn't hold it against him. But at the same time, he turned into a giant freaking wolf! That's not supposed to happen! Shape-shifting went against the laws of physics. And he had kept it from me too. I think that was one of the things that had bothered me the most. I had considered him my best friend in Forks, no matter how sad and pathetic that was, but he hid that from me. I couldn't help but wonder if he was hiding something else from me, like maybe his mother was really Catwoman in disguise. And as I slowly got that stupid dream out of my head, I could only think of more questions. Is that what that security business that Sam Uley was running was really about? Was that what they were protecting La Push from? Vampires? It made more sense then all of the stupid theories I had come up with before. Were all the boys I had met at the bonfire werewolves? Did everyone in La Push know about this? And if they did, how in the hell were they okay with it? Jacob had made it seem like it was a curse, something that none of them really enjoyed. And then I just started to feel guilty again, because how could I hold something that Seth hadn't asked for and didn't particularly want against him?

And what about the vampires? I was starting to get a little curious about that. Did this mean that they were real? The thought was completely ridiculous but they had to be, since werewolves were real. Seth had said that the only reason why he was a werewolf was because there were vampires in the area. Were they anything like Dracula, with the pointed ears and hairy palms, or did they break canon like the La Push werewolves? How were they able to walk among normal people so easily? Wouldn't people start to notice if there were suddenly a lot of bodies showing up that were drained of blood with teeth marks on the necks? I groaned and put my head down on my chemistry textbook. I couldn't believe I was even thinking about things like reluctant werewolves fighting Romanian vampires. It was completely ridiculous. How had this become my life?

I couldn't concentrate on my homework at all. Every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was Seth exploding into tan fur. And then it would take what felt like forever to get that image out of my head. I had gotten very little done by the time Emma got home later that night. I was about a second away from throwing my French book across the room when she knocked on the door.

"Hi," she said. "Still doing homework?"

"Yep," I said. I was still a little annoyed with her and I didn't want her to try and guilt me into forgiving Seth again. I felt bad enough as it was.

She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket. "Seth wanted me to give this to you." I took it from her and saw that my name was written on the front in messy handwriting. "What happened between you two, anyways?"

"I told you, it was nothing," I said petulantly. I was getting a little annoyed with her sticking her nose into my business. I knew she was just concerned about Seth but this was starting to get on my last nerve.

"It didn't look like nothing," she said, handing it to me. "The poor kid looked miserable." I bit down on my bottom lip. I felt even more awful. She shrugged. "Whatever it was that he did, Liz, I think you should forgive him."

I sighed. "Alright," I said. And then I yawned, hoping she would get the hint.

"Right, you must be tired," she said. She came towards me, acting as if she were about to hug me but then thought better of it. I'm sure my relief showed on my face. I didn't know how to deal with this. I felt bad for being annoyed with her, she was only trying to look out for me. But at the same time, her concern was not needed. I could take care of things perfectly fine by myself. She stayed there for one awkward moment before smiling at me and walking down the hallway to her room.

I looked down at the note in my hands and opened it. There were only two words inside: _I'm sorry_. I had dialed half of his number before I remembered the dream and hung up. I would talk to him eventually but I couldn't do it right now. It would only make things worse.

I had another nightmare that night. It was different from the one before, though. Instead of being attacked by the large sand-colored wolf, I was watching from the trees as it attacked a pale, burly black-haired man. And I felt different too; instead of being scared for my life, I was worried for both the pale man and the large wolf. I couldn't make any sense of it when I woke up. And I still felt awful.

I had hoped Emma would be gone by the time I got downstairs but I guess I should have known that luck was not on my side lately. "Morning," she said, giving me this small, knowing smile, like she had expected me to look as awful as I felt.

"Hi," I said softly.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked. I shot her a dark look and she chuckled. "Nightmares again?" I nodded. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not really," I said.

"Was Seth in it?" she asked suddenly. I froze in the middle of grabbing the milk for my cereal. How would she know that? "You kept saying his name," she explained. Oh. I guess that made sense. But how could she have heard me? "I went in to check on you. I was worried."

"Oh," I said. "Yeah, I guess he was in it." I didn't know how I felt about that, knowing that she was worried enough to check on me. In some ways I was offended because I didn't want or need anyone to be worried about me, I was perfectly fine alone and I didn't understand why no one could realize that. But it also felt… _nice_, knowing that there was someone out there who actually cared about my well-being. Two, actually, if I was right about Seth. And still… I couldn't make myself talk to him just yet.

--

I was pretty miserable for the rest of the week. Emma was starting to get really annoyed with me. She kept worrying that the fight I was having with Seth, which was more serious than she had originally thought, would somehow affect her relationship with the Clearwaters. It was slightly ridiculous. And she kept trying to figure out what exactly had happened between us. And I just let her come up with the dumbest theories ever (like he had tried to force himself on me) because I knew that she would never believe the truth. It's not like I could tell her the truth anyways, I had promised Jacob that I wouldn't tell anyone about what I had seen.

I kept having those weird dreams too. At first, the tan wolf kept attacking these insanely pale people in the moonlight. I kept getting the weirdest feeling while I watched this, like I hoped that Seth would beat them. But that was wrong. I couldn't actually be hoping that Seth would devour innocent people. And I was so worried for him, like there was any way that a weak human could hurt him. But then they changed and suddenly instead of attacking someone, Seth was pacing in the clearing like he was waiting for someone, howling at the moon every few minutes. Those were the strangest dreams because for some reason, I wanted to run to him so that I could comfort him. I couldn't, though, because I still had that strange feeling of danger. I was scared of him even in my dreams, I guess. The dreams kept me from talking to him, although he did try to call me a few times. Emma got even more annoyed when she had to lie to him and say that I was out.

My friends at school seemed to notice that I was upset too. The first day, Lydia spent most of lunch and gym asking me what was wrong, over and over. Even Will was curious about why I was so miserable, and I was so shocked by him actually speaking to me that I actually told them that I got into a fight with Seth. Of course, Lydia latched on to that like a pit bull with a bone and didn't let it go. She seemed to think it was some kind of lover's spat and insisted on trying different things to cheer me up. I can't even count the number of awful jokes I was subjected to.

Finally, she decided that I was in desperate need of something called a 'Girl's Night.' She forced Sammy away from Will and made her drive us into Port Angeles while she played Dr. Phil. She had dragged us into some department store to look at the three dresses she was trying to choose between for some kind of winter formal that Forks High was going to have in a month and a half.

"You should really go, Liz," she said as we made our way out of the store.

"I don't know," I said. "I don't really think dances are my thing."

"Why not?" Sammy asked. "I think they're kind of fun."

I shrugged. "I don't see the fun in getting dressed up so I can dance around a gym full of streamers to a bunch of shitty songs with some guy I don't even like."

"You know," Lydia said coyly, "I bet you'd actually enjoy it if you went with what's-his-name."

"Seth," I said softly, correcting her. "And I seriously doubt that."

"Why not?" she asked. "You do like him. I mean, if you'd just admit it then I'm sure you could end this stupid fight just in time for winter formal!"

I swear, I liked Lydia a lot but I was only one step away from popping her in the nose right then. I was really getting sick of her trying to cheer me up. Sammy seemed to pick up on that. "So, Lydia," she said, trying to divert her attention elsewhere. "What are we going to do now?"

Lydia smiled. "I don't know," she said. "I've never really done anything like this before. I was just going off what they do on TV."

Oh great, we had driven an hour to this stupid town just so we could wander around aimlessly in the name of girl power or whatever. Sammy looked confused at that. "And what do they do on TV?"

She shrugged. "Shop and go to clubs to check out guys."

"Do they even have clubs in this town?" I asked. "Or should we go to the soda shop?"

Sammy laughed while Lydia scowled at me. "We could go and see if that new Drew Barrymore movie is playing soon. Or go down the boardwalk and check out the guys there."

"Movie," Sammy and I said in unison. I did not want to go look at any strange boys, they would only remind me of the one I certainly did not want to think about right now. And I could only assume that Sammy didn't want to go do that because she was already in a committed relationship.

Lydia rolled her eyes at us. "Hey," she said as we made our way towards the only movie theater in this town, "Isn't that Seth?"

I looked where she was pointing and stopped in my tracks. It _was_ Seth and most of those abnormally tall guys he hung out with. I guess they were setting all of the werewolves on Port Angeles now. "Actually, I'd really like to go see the boardwalk." I turned around quickly, hoping he hadn't seen me yet.

"Uh, okay," Sammy said, looking at me as if she thought I was crazy. She grabbed Lydia by the arm and started dragging her in the opposite direction, since she looked like she was about to go talk to him.

"Liz!" I heard that familiar deep voice call from behind me. "Liz! Wait up!"

"Oh no," I muttered. I turned around and forced a smile. "Hi Seth."

"Liz," he said, staring down at me. Emma had been right, he looked absolutely miserable. I couldn't really believe that this was all because of me. Something else must have happened down in La Push, maybe Dracula had gotten away this full moon. He looked cautiously at the two girls with me and asked, "How are you?"

I shrugged. "The same, really."

"Look," he said. "Can we please talk?"

"Seth, I don't really think that's such –"

He interrupted me. "Please, Liz? Just let me explain. And then you can back to avoiding me all you want, I promise." I looked into his eyes, the same sad brown that I had seen last night in my dream and I knew that I couldn't deny him this. I didn't think it was a good idea – how could I know that I wasn't going to freak out again? – but I had to do this for him because I couldn't take knowing that I was the one causing him pain.

I sighed and then turned to Lydia and Sammy and said, "I'll meet you guys at the movie theater, alright?"

"Right," Sammy said, smiling at me. "See you then." She started pulling Lydia in the other direction now.

"Oh, so now we're going to the movie?" Lydia muttered. She turned to me, smirked and mouthed, "Good luck."

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her. Then I turned to Seth and said, "Alright. Let's talk about this."


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I only like to play in her world from time to time. I do own Liz, Lydia and whoever else you don't recognize so please don't steal them.

**A/N:** Haha, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger from the last chapter but I do have to say that I loved everyone's reactions to it. I wrote this as quickly as I could so I hope you guys like it! :) The Quileute legends are from chapter eleven in _Eclipse_, pages 239 – 259. Thank you to Lecia, LittleStarThingys, alliofspades, Nikkirenzo59, gymgurl, Leave your hat on, Perfect love kills all fear, Bible Chick, Dracosnewgirl, Hailey-Stone, The Awkward Turtle, LebaneseBella08TJ, and Day of the Wolf for your reviews! I don't have an extra this time either but please review anyways!

**Chapter 9**

_Then I turned to Seth and said, "Alright. Let's talk about this."_

He smiled, though it was much sadder than his usual grin, and reached for my hand. It was a natural thing to do, we always seemed to be touching somehow whenever we were around each other, but I flinched away from him. His whole face fell and I got that awful sinking feeling in my stomach. I just knew that I was only going to screw things up even more by doing this. But I was also so happy to see him. It was weird, and also just really pathetic, but I had felt so awful all week and just being with him made me feel better. It only made me more confused.

"Well?" I asked. I felt a little uncomfortable, standing there in the middle of the sidewalk while his werewolf buddies watched us.

"Come on," he said, turning abruptly and walking in the opposite direction of his friends.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I jogged to keep up with him. He was clearly agitated and I was suddenly wishing his friends would come with us.

"If this is my last chance to talk to you, I don't want an audience," he said simply. He led me to a bench on the scenic boardwalk in the town. It was out of the way but it's not like it really mattered. Port Angeles didn't really have that many tourists in the winter.

We sat in an awkward silence. He was staring at me again in that intense way that made my heart beat faster and I was trying to avoid his gaze. I didn't want to be pulled into this again, at least not until he explained. "So… are you going to say anything?" I asked when I couldn't take it anymore. "Or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

"I guess I should start with the old legends," he said, looking down at his feet. He ran one of his overly-large hands through his short hair and told me about how the Quileutes had always seemed to be more on the supernatural side of things. They had started out as Spirit Warriors, able to leave their bodies and fight their enemies by controlling the weather and the animals of the forest. Then a man named Utlapa had ruined it all. He wanted to use the spirit magic to enslave the other tribes in the area and build a Quileute empire. But the spirit warriors could hear each other's thoughts and the last great spirit warrior chief, Taha Aki, exiled Utlapa from the tribe. Utlapa was upset about this, naturally, so he waited until Taha Aki left his body and then took it over himself. Utlapa used Taka Aki's body to gain privileges that Taha Aki himself never would have asked for. Taha Aki tried everything he could to alert the other spirit warriors about Utlapa's betrayal but Utlapa had banned them all from entering the spirit world. Finally, Taha Aki was able to merge himself with a wolf and he went to the village on the harbor to warn the Quileutes. Utlapa ordered the other spirit warriors to kill the wolf, but one man, Yut, realized that it wasn't an ordinary animal. He crossed into the spirit world and realized what Utlapa had done but Utlapa killed him before he could tell the others. Taha Aki was so enraged about Yut's death that his wolf body couldn't handle it, the emotion was simply too human for the animal, and he transformed into a man. His body was the flesh interpretation of his spirit self and the other warriors recognized him right away. Utlapa tried to run but Taha Aki had the strength and speed of the wolf in his new body. He was able to catch him and crush Utlapa's spirit before he could jump out of the body. The Quileutes rejoiced when they learned the truth and everything went back to normal, except Taha Aki kept the ban on spirit walking. He was afraid that others would try to do what Utlapa had now that the idea was out there. But he kept his wolf form and used it to fight his enemies, much like he had with his spirit self. Soon, they learned that some of Taha Aki's sons could transform into wolves when they reached manhood. And they found out that as long as they kept phasing into wolves, they wouldn't age. It was fascinating to hear. It was too bad that he hadn't told me this before he showed me how he could turn into a wolf. I probably still would have freaked out but it wouldn't have been as much of a shock.

"Does that mean you're a descendent of Taha Aki?" I asked quietly.

He nodded. "Everyone in the pack is." It was weird to hear him refer to his group of freakishly tall friends as a pack but I tried to control my reaction as best as I could.

When I was sure I wouldn't freak out again, I asked, "Is that why you're so strong? Because of all the wolf stuff?" He nodded again. "Can you still hear each other's thoughts like the spirit warriors?"

"Yeah," he said. "That's one of the worst parts of it, actually. I can't keep a secret from any of them."

"What are the best parts?" I asked curiously. It sounded completely ridiculous but it was easier to be calm about this when he was right there with me, in his human form.

"The speed," he said, smiling. He looked relieved that I could actually ask him questions like that. "I can run faster than any normal human, and I can go for hours without getting winded. And I heal quickly too, if I cut myself right now it would be gone in a couple minutes."

I nodded. "Is that why you're so warm too?"

"Yeah," he said. "I run a temperature of one hundred and seven point eight all of the time."

"But what does that have to do with vampires?" I asked, slightly confused. He had mentioned that they were werewolves so that they could kill their only natural enemy. And while the story of the spirit warriors was pretty cool, it didn't explain any of that.

He sighed. "That's another one of our legends, the third wife's sacrifice. Taha Aki stopped phasing after he married his third wife and many years later, trouble began in the north with the Makahs. Several young women of their tribe disappeared and they blamed the Quileutes but all of the wolf-men knew that they weren't to blame since they could hear each other's thoughts when they were wolves. Taha Aki sent his oldest son, Taha Wi, and five of the other wolves to find out what was really happening to the women of the Makah tribe. They searched through the mountains and came upon a strange sweet scent they had never encountered before; it burned their noses to the point of pain. They didn't know what it was but they followed it. Soon, they found traces of human scent and human blood along the trail. They went so far north that Taha Wi sent the younger members of the pack back to the harbor to report to Taha Aki. But Taha Wi never returned."

It was one of the scariest things I had ever heard, mostly because I knew what had killed the Makah women. And Seth was a good storyteller, his voice took on this weird majestic quality and I could clearly see what he was saying in my head. "What happened to him?" I asked, practically on the edge of my seat.

He smiled down at me. "The younger members of the pack searched for Taha Wi and the others but they couldn't hear him. Taha Aki mourned for his sons but there was nothing he could do about their deaths because he was too old to phase and seek revenge. He went to the Makah chief in his mourning clothes and told him what happened. The Makah chief believed his grief and the tension ended between the tribes. A year later, two Makah women disappeared from their homes on the same night. They called on the wolves at once and they found that sickly sweet smell all through the Makah village. The wolves went on the hunt again.

"This time, only one came back. It was Yaha Uta, the oldest son of Taha Aki's third wife, and the youngest member of the pack. He brought something that no one had ever seen before – a strange, cold, stony corpse that he carried in pieces. Every one of Taha Aki's line could smell the piercing stench of the creature and they knew it was the one who had been attacking the Makahs. Yaha Uta told them what happened: the pack had found the creature, which looked a man but had granite skin, with the two Makah women. One of them was already dead, white and bloodless on the ground, and the other was in his arms, his mouth at her throat. When the creature saw the wolves, he snapped her neck and tossed her lifeless body onto the ground. Yaha Uta and the other wolves were able to see that he wasn't a normal human, his eyes were a crimson red and he was faster and stronger than even the wolves. They tried to fight him but many died in the attempt. They didn't realize that they had to work together to take him down. Finally, Yaha Uta and one of his brothers started to rip him apart but the creature killed his brother before they had finished.

"When Yaha Uta laid the remains out on the beach, the severed hand touched one of the arms and they were connected again. The elders were horrified. They set the rest of the remains on fire and a cloud of vile, purple smoke filled the air. When it had burnt down to ash, they separated the ashes into many small bags and spread them far and wide – in the ocean, the forest and the cliff caverns. Taha Aki wore one bag around his neck so he would know if it ever tried to put itself back together again. Do you remember Billy Black?" I nodded, picturing the elderly man in the wheelchair from the bonfire. "He has that bag now. He wears it around his neck at all times."

"That's disgusting," I said, but I wasn't feeling nearly as horrified as I had last weekend. "So that was a vampire?"

He nodded. "And unfortunately, he had a mate. She came to the village quickly, seeking revenge. The legends say that she was the most beautiful thing that anyone had ever seen. The sun was out and it glittered off her skin like it was made up of diamonds.'

"Vampires glitter?" I giggled. It sounded absurd. "That doesn't seem all that frightening."

Seth smirked at me. "They're also so fast that you would never be able to see them move, so strong that they could break your neck like it was some kind of a twig, and venomous." That sobered me up instantly. "Anyways, this one had blonde hair down to her knees, black eyes and a beautiful face that looked like it had been sculpted by the gods themselves. Many of the tribe actually thought she was a god and they bowed down to worship her. They didn't realize what she was until a small boy from Taha Aki's bloodline started crying because of the smell. An elder on his way to the council heard the boy, realized what she was and yelled for everyone to run. She killed him and almost everyone else in a matter of minutes. The two that survived only did so because she had become so distracted by the blood that she had given up and drank from the corpses. They ran and told Taha Aki. Yaha Uta transformed into a wolf and went off to fight her alone. She had been terrorizing the other members of the tribe but she stopped and went after Yaha Uta when she saw him. The fight was close but Yaha Uta did not have anyone to help him and he lost. When she killed him, Taha Aki became so angry that he shifted into an ancient, white-muzzled wolf and fought her.

"The third wife had just watched as another one of her sons was murdered. She knew that her husband would soon suffer the same fate and then they would all die at the hands of the vampire. But she had listened to Yaha Uta's story and she knew that only a diversion would save him. She grabbed a knife from the belt of one of her sons standing next to her and ran towards the Cold Woman with the dagger raised above her head. The Cold Woman didn't pay any attention to her; she knew that the dagger wouldn't harm her at all. But then the third wife threw herself at the Cold Woman's feet and stabbed herself in the heart. The Cold Woman was distracted by the blood, completely consumed by her thirst. Taha Aki had the advantage then. Two of the younger sons were filled with so much rage by their mother's death that they transformed into wolves right then and joined their father in the fight. Together they were able to defeat the creature.

"Taha Aki was so upset about the third wife's death that he never changed back into a man. He mourned for three days and then he ran off into the forest, never to be seen again. Those two sons took over the tribe after that. They made sure that the knowledge of how to defeat the cold ones was passed on from generation to generation so that we would always know how to defeat them. But eventually enough time passed that Taha Aki's descendents stopped turning into wolves. And now, it only happens when there's a vampire near."

"Wow," I said, sitting back against the bench. "That's the scariest thing I've ever heard." It really was. Wes Craven had nothing on the Quileute legends, but then again that might have just been because I knew without a doubt that they were true. I realized that I wasn't as scared as I was before. I've always been more scientifically minded so it only made sense for the unexplainable to completely freak me out. But now I knew why Seth changed into a wolf and even though it was still ridiculous, it was starting to make sense to me. I realized then that I would be able to be more accepting the more I learned about this, although it was still the weirdest thing I'd ever heard of.

"Yeah," he said, watching me carefully. It was like he was expecting me to have a mental breakdown right then and there.

"But they must have come back, right?" I asked. "Isn't that why there's a…. pack now?"

He nodded. "About seventy years ago, a family of cold ones moved into the area. They had strange yellow eyes and the leader talked to the chief of the tribe, Ephraim Black, as if he were a man. There were five them and only three wolves so it made no sense for him to offer a treaty. So Ephraim accepted it. They stayed off our lands and we didn't expose them. When the Cullens –"

"The Cullens?!" I said, interrupting him. "You mean that doctor that Emma is always going on about is a freaking _vampire_?!"

He chuckled at my reaction. "You can't tell her, though. No one can know about their secret. Or ours, for that matter."

"Right," I said. "Don't worry, I won't tell her." She would probably freak out worse than I had if she ever found out that the person she idolized so much had to drink blood to survive. But that did bring up the question of how the hell he could work as a doctor. Wouldn't he go nuts if he was around all of that blood?

"Anyways, when they moved back to Forks, they had two more members and they set off the change again. And now the pack is bigger than any before it. Except for when Taha Aki was around."

"But how does it happen?" I was determined to find out more. "When you change, I mean. Do you have to be in like, close proximity to one of them?"

"No," he said. "Usually, once we hit a certain age we'll start getting the symptoms of it, you know, our temperatures will get unnaturally high and we'll go through massive growth spurts. But then something will set us off, make us really angry, and it just… happens. It's like you get so mad about something that you feel like you're going to explode, and then you literally do explode. And you think you're going crazy because you're a giant wolf and then there are all these people in your head trying to explain things to you." He shook his head. "It's pretty awful."

"What set you off?" I asked curiously. He looked down at his feet and bit his lip. "Oh, I'm sorry," I said quickly. "You don't have to tell me."

"No, it's ok," he said. "I want to tell you. It was March. Leah had just found out that Sam and Emily were engaged and she got so angry that she just… phased right there in the living room, right in front of us. It was the weirdest thing, one moment my sister was sitting on the couch fighting with my parents and then there was this giant silver wolf in her place. And my dad was so shocked that he… he…"

It clicked then. His father had had his heart attack in March and this must have been why. I felt awful. I couldn't believe that I was causing him pain even now that I had more or less accepted his furry little problem. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "Oh, Seth," I said. "I'm sorry. You don't… I mean, if this is hard for you then –"

He smiled at me and said, "I'm perfectly okay." He looked down at our intertwined hands and his grin widened until it became the big, goofy one that I adored. He gripped onto my hand then and I wouldn't have been able to let go even if I wanted to, which I didn't. Then he frowned again and said, "Anyways, he didn't recover. And I was just so… mad. Mad at Leah for getting so upset about the engagement, mad at my mother for telling her about it, and mad at him for never taking care of himself. And then there was this weird red hot heat running down my spine and the next thing I knew, I was this giant wolf and Sam was in my head trying to explain what had just happened. It took me five days to calm down enough to become myself again."

"Do you always change when you get angry now?" I asked.

"No. I mean, it still happens sometimes but I've gotten a lot better at it lately. Sam and Jacob have helped a lot."

"Oh," I said. We sat in silence then as he rubbed small circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I realized that I didn't feel scared at all in that moment; instead, the butterflies seemed to have moved back into my stomach. I was so glad that I ran into him here, I felt so much better about everything. I knew that if I hadn't given him the chance to explain tonight, I would have been stubborn and stayed away from him for a few more weeks. And I would have been as absolutely miserable without him, and then I would have gotten angry at the fact that I seemed to need him so much. But something was bothering me and I figured I might as well ask him now since he was being so honest. "But why was Leah upset about Sam and Emily getting engaged?"

He scowled. "She'll be mad I told you this but… she dated Sam for almost four years."

"What?" I asked, completely confused. "But isn't Emily your cousin?" He nodded. "Why would she do that to Leah?"

He sighed. "It's another wolf thing."

Now I was really confused. "What, Sam couldn't date another wolf?"

He actually laughed at that. "No, that's not what happened. It's called imprinting. It sounds kind of lame but it's a little like love at first sight. When a wolf sees the woman he's supposed to be with, it's like something inside of him changes. Suddenly, the only gravity he feels is the one that's constantly pulling him towards her. Nothing matters except for her. And that's what happened with Sam, he imprinted on Emily when she came down to visit us."

"That's awful," I said.

"Yeah, Emily hated his guts at first. She didn't want anything to do with him after he broke Leah's heart. They got into this huge argument and Sam ended up phasing too close and Emily got hurt. That's what really happened to her, everyone thinks she was mauled by a bear but it was Sam. And it's really strange because that's how they ended up getting together. Sam was so horrified by what he'd done that he was ready to go jump off a cliff and somehow Emily ended up comforting him." He shrugged and said, "They've been together ever since."

"Does everyone imprint?" I asked. I didn't know what to think about the imprinting thing. In a way, it was really sweet but at the same time it didn't seem right to take away someone's right to pick who they loved.

"We don't know. Our legends always said it was rare but almost half of the pack has imprinted now."

I wanted to ask him if he had but I didn't know if it was too personal. Finally, I just decided to spit it out. "Have you?" I asked quietly. He sighed again and rubbed his forehead with his hand, like he had a headache. "Oh, sorry. Was that too personal?"

"No," he said. "I just… hoped I wouldn't have to tell you about this part of it yet. I didn't want to freak you out again."

"Oh," I said. I wanted to tell him that he could wait to tell me but I was too intrigued now. I should have learned my lesson about this before, curiosity kills the cat and whatnot, but I couldn't stop the curiosity from practically oozing out of me. "I'll try not to," I said, smiling weakly at him.

His face twisted into this weird half-smile, half-grimace. "Do you remember how weird I acted when we first met?" I nodded. I didn't think I'd ever be able to forget that, actually. I had thought his entire family belonged in a mental asylum. "Well, that's because I… well, I imprinted… on you." _Oh._ I could feel the shock on my face. But I didn't feel like I was going to freak out this time. Instead, I felt so relieved to know that he felt the same way I did. But he took my reaction the wrong way. "No, Liz, it's okay," he said, his words coming out in a rush. "Nothing ever has to happen between us. I won't pressure you into anything, I promise. I can leave you alone for the rest of your life if you want." But I didn't want that. It was completely absurd but I was happier than I had been since I moved out here. I had felt so pathetic for two weeks now because I liked Seth so much more than I should have but now I knew why. I was tied to him in some strange, supernatural way and I always would be.

I pulled my hand away from his and his whole face fell. But then his eyes widened in shock as I reached up and placed my hand on his cheek. "I don't want you to leave me alone," I said softly.

"What are you saying?" he asked, his breathing getting harder.

"Look," I said. "I'm still a little freaked out by this whole wolf thing, but I don't want you out of my life entirely. Honestly, I've been pretty miserable this week without you."

"Me too," he smiled.

"We're just going to have to go slow with all the werewolf stuff, okay?" I said. He nodded and it was like something changed inside of him, he was becoming more like himself now. He had looked so sad the whole time we had been talking but now I could see the warmth coming back into his eyes. I couldn't stop myself then. My hand seemed to move of its own accord as it worked its way behind his head and then pulled him towards me. It felt like his lips were setting mine on fire, they were so warm and soft. The kiss started off gentle and sweet but then his arms were around my waist, pulling me onto his lap and closer to him. My breath was starting to come out in wild gasps, I could feel him pressed up against every inch of me but I still wanted _more_. My hands were tangled in his hair and his lips were getting more forceful when I heard someone clearing their throat behind us. I pulled away and I could feel the blood rushing up my neck.

"Well, now I can see why you decided to skip the movie," Lydia said. I looked up and saw that she had a huge, knowing grin on her face while Sammy looked like she was trying very hard to hold in her giggles.

"Right," Seth said, sounding as embarrassed as I felt. He lifted me up off his lap and placed me back on the bench. "Well, I should go."

"Yeah," Lydia said, smirking at us, "We're going to have to leave now if I'm going to get back before my curfew." Sammy couldn't hold it in anymore and she started laughing hysterically. This was definitely not what I thought my first kiss would be like. I mean, the whole kissing part with Seth had been great but I could have done without Sammy and Lydia interrupting us.

I couldn't look either of them as I got up so I turned to Seth and said, "Call me tomorrow?"

He grinned at me. "Of course," he said, before ducking down and kissing me softly again. And I couldn't stop the stupid, goofy grin that spread across my face. Then he turned to Lydia and Sammy, who had finally calmed down, and said, "It was nice meeting you." Then he turned and practically jogged down to the Main Street of Port Angeles.

"So I guess you two made up," Sammy said, trying not to laugh again.

"Shut up," I said, shoving her lightly.

Lydia grabbed my hand and started to drag me down to where Sammy had parked. "Now you guys can go to the winter formal!" she said excitedly. I rolled my eyes at her but I didn't say anything. I couldn't deny that I was excited about what had happened tonight (although I was sure that Emma would probably be more excited than I was), and I couldn't wait to see him again tomorrow, but there was no way in hell that I was going to go to that stupid dance.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I do own Liz and Emma, though, so please don't steal them.

**A/N:** Sorry it's taken me so long to post this up! I started nursing school in September and I'm working so I don't have a lot of time. And I spent all of my free time finishing _In Your Eyes_ (and not to shamelessly plug myself, but if you like The Host you should check it out!) so I kind of put this story on the backburner. But now I'm back to this one so it shouldn't take me over a month to update again. Also, I haven't spent as long as I usually do in editing this chapter so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes. I just wanted to get it up quickly because I felt so bad about taking so long to write this. And I'm looking for a beta to help me with this (I'm pretty bad with grammar and I often leave stuff out when I start typing too fast), so if you're interested please PM me! Thank you to alliofspades, Nikkirenzo59, The Awkward Turtle, gymgurl, xxTunstall Chickxx, Lecia, LittleStarThingys, Leave your hat on, daysandnights, Bible Chick, Hailey-Stone, Perfect love kills all fear, Day of the Wolf, MississippiGirl13, LebaneseBella08TJ, Amarantis, and Laurelyn for all your kind reviews! They really motivated me to get my ass in gear. Okay, this author's note is getting really long so I'm just going to add that I have another extra that I'll send out to everyone that reviews this chapter. I hope you guys like this chapter!! :)

**Chapter 10**

I don't think I've really conveyed how much I _hate_ it when I know I'm dreaming. It's just plain awful; it all feels so real, even though I know it's not. And I can never seem to wake myself up until the dream is over. I had hoped that I wouldn't have one this night since I was feeling a lot less freaked out about everything because of the talk with Seth, but apparently my hopes were in vain. This nightmare was much like the ones from before, the large tan wolf was waiting in the strange clearing in the woods that was lit up by a full moon. But I felt different. Instead of being scared, I was happy to see him. I wanted to run out into the clearing, hoping that maybe he'd change back into Seth so that we could continue what we had been doing on the boardwalk before my friends interrupted us, but there was a part of me that just knew I had to stay hidden for some reason.

That reason became clear after a few minutes. A pale woman with hair so blonde that it looked bone white in the moonlight walked into the clearing. As soon as she saw Seth, her lips curled into a snarl that broke the peaceful silence of the forest. And I was scared to death because I could remember the story that he had told me just a few hours before. I would bet anything that this was the Cold Woman from the legends. Suddenly, I wished that my subconscious would just leave my fears alone and stop throwing them in my face every single freaking night. I'm sure I could find a much better way of dealing with them, like, for example, shoving them to the back of my mind, never to be thought of again. But those thoughts flew out of my mind when the Cold Woman threw herself at Seth. None of the fights I had witnessed before had been like this. They had been bad, sure, but they had never really hurt each other that badly. As I watched this fight, I knew that the two of them wouldn't stop until the other was dead. And, unlike the fights before, I only worried for Seth's safety. I understood now how lethal the vampires were. They were superhumanly strong and fast and venomous, while Seth was merely mortal (even if he was a werewolf). He might be fast and strong too but I knew he was no match for a vampire. Not unless he had help, someone to distract her while he ripped her to pieces, and there were no other wolves in the clearing to help him.

I watched the fight in silence, wincing numerous times as the Cold Woman made it clear that she had the advantage in the fight and silently hoping that someone would show up to help him. No one came, though, and soon I heard the snap of broken bones. I couldn't take it anymore. I knew there wasn't really anything that I could do but I didn't want to just stand there and watch him die. I stepped through the trees I had been watching from and it was like a switch had gone off inside her head. She turned to look at me and bared her teeth, a loud snarl ripping from her throat. She had two long fangs pointing downward and I froze in fear. This had been a very idea. There was no way I could fight her, but I couldn't just let her kill Seth. She moved so quickly that I couldn't see it, it was like one second she was in the middle of the clearing with Seth and the next, she was standing right in front of me. I could hear Seth whining from his spot in the clearing as she slowly lowered her head to my neck. I started screaming as soon as I realized what she was going to do.

Suddenly, I was sitting up in my bed, covered in sweat. I could tell that it was the middle of the night, there was a small sliver of the moon shining through my window. "Oh, fuck," I muttered, holding my hand to my chest. I could actually feel my heart pounding through my skin. I couldn't get the face of the vampire out of my mind. It had been twisted in hunger as she got ready to suck the blood out of my neck. Her eyes had been a dark crimson, full of hatred, and I saw them every time I closed my eyes. The sky was starting to lighten by the time I was able to fall back asleep.

I didn't wake up again until mid-day. I actually thought I was still dreaming when I saw the sunlight streaming into my room. The fact that Seth had somehow managed to squeeze himself into the chair across from my bed only seemed to prove further that I was in the middle of a very nice dream.

"Morning," he said softly, smiling the large, goofy grin that I loved so much.

I smiled at him and wiped the sleep from my eyes. My head snapped up when I realized what he had said. I wasn't dreaming, Seth was really there in my room, witnessing my incredibly messy hair and what I could only assume was nasty morning breath. "Oh my God!" I said loudly, holding my blanket up to my chin. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes widened in confusion. "I wanted to see you so I came by."

I rolled my eyes at him. "What, and Emma just let you in my room?"

"No," he said, shrugging his wide shoulders. "She was gone by the time I got here."

"So what, you just let yourself in?" I asked. He nodded and I sighed in frustration. "You can't do that anymore, Seth! I mean, it's nice that you wanted to see me so badly but you don't know what you might walk in on! What if I slept naked?" His smile turned incredibly mischievous and I could practically see the dirty thoughts in his head. I continued before he said anything. "Okay, maybe that was a bad example. What if Emma liked to clean the house in the nude?"

He made a face at that. "Alright, I can see your point." I smiled at him but then he continued. "So I'll just keep doing it while she's gone. And if you'd like to sleep naked –"

I interrupted him. "Don't get your hopes up, perv. And what were you doing, anyways? Watching me sleep? That's so creepy."

He laughed and held up the old _Sports Illustrated_ magazine that had been sitting on my desk. "As fascinating as your drooling was, I was more interested in this."

"I do not drool!" I said in mock offense. "Do you mind leaving?" His face fell and I realized what he was thinking. Before he could say anything, I said, "No! I don't want you to go! I just meant… leaving the room so that I can get dressed."

He smiled again. "Are you sure you don't want any help?"

I rolled my eyes at him and laughed, "Oh, just get out."

He got up and walked to the door. Then he turned back and smirked at me. "Cute teddy bear."

I felt my face grow hot at his comment. I wasn't exactly proud of the fact that I still slept with a stuffed animal, especially one that looked as ratty as mine. I had had it for almost sixteen years so it was missing all of its fluff, and unfortunately Sophie had chewed its eyes off about a week ago. But I had kept it because I couldn't sleep without it. Besides, I hadn't really thought anyone would ever get the chance to see it. "Get out!" I said, throwing the bear at him.

He ducked quickly, so fast that his whole body blurred, and laughed as the bear hit the wall behind his head. "You might want to work on your aim," he said, and then ducked out of my room before I could say anything.

I had always thought it was so ridiculous when girls wanted to spend every second of their day with their boyfriends and I was a little ashamed to find that I was becoming one of them. As weird as it was to wake up to Seth, I was actually glad that he was here. I had more questions to ask him, although I still wasn't really sure that I wanted to know the answers. Plus, it would be nice to continue what we had been doing on the boardwalk before my friends had rudely interrupted us. I took a quick cold shower in an attempt to get my hormones under control and then got dressed as quickly as I could.

Seth was playing with Sophie when I got downstairs but stopped when he saw me and followed me into the kitchen. He sat at the table while I got my breakfast ready. "What are we doing today?" he asked.

I smiled at him and said, "You don't have any supernatural business to attend to?"

"Nope," he said, smiling back at me. It was the same warm, friendly smile that I loved but it was also somewhat different, softer. And he was looking at me in that intense way that made my knees feel so weak that I was glad I was sitting down. Then his face darkened and he said, "It's not like I'd get to do anything, anyways."

"What do you mean?"

"Sam doesn't let me do much." I knew Sam was a wolf too, but how would he be able to stop Seth if he wanted to do something? He must have noticed the puzzled look on my face because he said, "Sam's the Alpha, and so whatever he says goes."

It baffled me that werewolves actually had to follow rules. "What does he let you do?" I asked curiously.

"Patrol around La Push, mostly," he said.

"Patrol for what? Vampires?" I didn't think there would be that many here, in the middle of nowhere, but then again, I didn't even know they existed until last week. He nodded but I continued before he could say anything. "Are there a lot of them around here?"

"Not since the Cullens left."

"What, did they have a lot of friends or something?"

"I wouldn't exactly call them friends." I raised an eyebrow in confusion and he continued, "There was a vampire that had a problem with one of the Cullen's human girlfriend –"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted him. "One of them was dating a human?" The thought of that simply blew my mind. I couldn't believe that a human would be totally fine with dating a vampire. I mean, wouldn't they be scared of getting so close to the fangs? And what would stop the vampire from going crazy and feeding off of them, or did the girl like that? In all the vampire movies I'd seen, which hadn't exactly been a lot, the vampires would bite into the human right before intercourse, like it was some kind of twisted foreplay. Now I couldn't help wondering if that was actually true… and if people were actually into that kind of thing.

"Yeah," he said. "But don't mention any of that to Jacob, okay?"

"Why?" I asked, completely confused. Was Jacob as creeped out as I was by the fact that a human would actually willingly date a vampire?

Seth grabbed one of my Pop-Tarts and then flashed me that beautiful smile so I wouldn't protest. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Sorry," I said, although I really wasn't. Even though the whole thing still scared the pants off me, I was finding myself wanting to know everything about the wolves and vampires.

"Right," he said, smiling at me as if he knew that my apology was fake. "Like I was saying, this vampire had a problem with Edward Cullen's girlfriend, Bella, so she created an army of newborn vampires."

Before he could continue, I interrupted him again. "Newborns? As in babies?" I was completely disgusted by that thought. Who would want to have little baby vampires?

"No. A newborn vampire is someone who's been recently turned. They're wilder than most vampires, unable to restrain themselves from killing every human in sight. They're stronger and dumber than most vampires, too."

"So what, this vengeful vampire just let a bunch of stupid, super-vampires into Forks and no one noticed?"

"No, they didn't make it into Forks. We stopped them in a huge clearing right outside of town."

I gasped in shock. "You fought them?"

"Not exactly," he said, smiling sheepishly. "I had to guard Bella, the human girl, with one of the Cullens. We were hiding up in the mountains but the vampire who was out for revenge and one of her older newborns found us so we had to fight them."

"Did you kill them?" I asked, although I wasn't really sure if I wanted to know the answer.

He looked at me for a few minutes, probably trying to decide if I was going to freak out again or not. Then he said, "We had to. They would have killed Bella if we didn't."

"How do you kill a vampire?" I wondered if wooden stakes actually worked.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you really want to know?"

"Probably not," I said. Surprisingly, all of this talk of Seth fighting newborn vampires hadn't completely freaked me out, although I had to admit that I was a little worried about him now that I knew he was off fighting vampires in his spare time. But finding out how exactly to kill a vampire might just push me over the edge. I got up, put my dishes in the dishwasher, and walked into the living room. Seth followed me, plopped down on the couch and turned the television on to some random football game. "Ugh," I said, sitting down next to him. "You do know that the Seahawks suck, right?"

"Hey," he said, laughing at me. "Don't insult my team, alright?" He place his arm around me and pulled me closer as I snuggled up to his side. The room was cold but he warmed me right up. I guess that was one of the benefits of dating a genetic freak.

We watched the game for a little while in a comfortable silence. Seth seemed absorbed in the game, but caressed my arm with his overly large thumb every few minutes. I don't think I had ever been as completely content as I was in that moment. "So why does Jacob hate that Bella girl?"

I twisted my head to watch him as he furrowed his brow at my question. "What? Why do you think he hates her?"

"You said that I shouldn't mention anything about her to him," I reminded him. He frowned but didn't say anything. "I thought we weren't going to keep any more secrets."

"You mean _I_ won't be keeping any more secrets," he said, smiling down at me. "You haven't exactly been sharing."

"_I_ don't have any deep, dark, supernatural secrets to share," I said, poking him lightly in the side.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You did live near Salem, didn't you?"

"Are you calling a witch?" I asked, smirking up at him. "Or is that a polite way of saying I'm a bitch?"

He chuckled lowly and nuzzled his nose against my neck. "I don't think you're a bitch." The feel of his warm breath on my neck made me shiver. He laughed again and I could feel the blood rushing up my neck.

I moved closer, until our faces were only inches apart, and looked into his warm brown eyes. "Please tell me," I said softly. He moved his face closer to mine, trying to kiss me, and it took all of my strength to move out of his way. "Please," I repeated. I realized that it wasn't very nice of me, manipulating Seth like that, but I wanted to find out what was going on with Jacob and the vampires.

He sighed and sat back against the couch. "You're killing me, Liz," he said, smiling to show that he was joking. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

I shrugged. "Just curious, I guess." I wasn't going to admit that I wanted to know if vampire and human relationships were as twisted as they were in the movies.

"Don't say anything about this to Jacob, okay?" I nodded and he continued, "Bella moved to Forks a couple years ago and met Edward Cullen at the high school. She knew he was a vampire and I guess she didn't care because she started dating him pretty soon after that. They went out for a couple months and then something must have happened because they broke up and the Cullens left town. Bella was wrecked. She was like… a zombie or something. She even jumped off a cliff, although she claims she wasn't tying to kill herself."

"Wait, she just off a cliff and survived?" I asked, completely confused. "Was she a werewolf too?"

He laughed. "No, she wasn't. It was one of the cliffs at First Beach. She almost drowned but Jacob was able to save her. Anyways, he fell for her while the Cullens were gone but then something happened with Edward and Bella went running off to save him, even though he had left her for dead in the middle of the woods. And then they came back and it was like nothing had happened. Bella took him back and left Jake out in the cold. They tried staying friends but it didn't work out. And then this summer, she married Edward and they left Forks."

"She married him?" I asked, baffled. "How did that work out? Aren't vampire like, immortal or something?"

"I'm pretty sure she wasn't going to stay mortal for long," he said. I couldn't believe that she actually wanted to be a vampire. Granted, I didn't exactly know much about them but they didn't seem very pleasant. I shivered again, this time in fear, and Seth tightened his arm around me. "Anyways, Jake got the invitation to the wedding and left. He changed into a wolf and stayed like that for months. That's why we had that bonfire the other week. He had finally come back home."

"That's awful," I said, sorry that I had asked. "Poor Jacob."

"Yeah," Seth said absent-mindedly, burying his face in my hair.

"Did he imprint on her?"

"No, which is a good thing. Hopefully he will imprint some day and he can forget about her."

"So if he imprints, he won't love Bella anymore? That's kind of strange."

"Well, isn't that how it would usually work?" he asked, looking at me in confusion.

"Maybe in a perfect world," I said. "But reality doesn't quite work like that. You can't forget the person who broke your heart just because you've found someone else."

"That's not what I meant; he's not going to forget about Bella. But when you imprint on someone, it's like nothing else in the world matters. He'll never be able to see anyone else."

But something was starting to bother me. "Do you get to choose who you imprint on?"

He shook his head. "No. Sam and Billy have their theories –"

But I didn't care about Sam and Billy's theories. It felt wrong, as if Seth had been forced into liking me. I guess this whole love at first sight thing wasn't as romantic as I had originally thought. "So, it pretty much takes away all of your free will then, doesn't it? You don't get to choose who you love and once you imprint, you'll never be able to love anyone else. It sounds awful."

"Hey," he said, gently grabbing my face with both of his hands. "Don't think about it like that. It is _not_ awful. And you do have your free will, Liz. You can walk away from this, I won't force you to stay."

But I didn't want to leave, especially now that I was staring into those beautiful brown eyes. Actually, I couldn't really remember what had upset me in the first place. "Right," I whispered. I raised my face to his, pressing my lips against his warm, soft ones. He responded immediately, wrapping both of his arms around my waist. My arms seemed to move on their own volition as they moved up around his neck.

Kissing Seth had to be one of my favorite things to do, even though I had only started doing it last night. So I was a little annoyed when he pulled away. "You don't seem as freaked out as before," he smiled.

I shrugged, his kiss leaving me slightly lightheaded. "I don't feel freaked out at all," I said. I didn't want to mention that it would have been impossible for that since I always felt safe in his arms. It would be worse later, when he wasn't here. I didn't have to be psychic to know that I would be having another nightmare tonight, probably involving Jacob and the girl who actually wanted to be a vampire.

The smile that spread across his face was beautiful, it seemed to light up the whole room. "Good," he said softly.

He kissed me again, his lips moving desperately against mine. I ran my hand through his hair as he pushed me back against the couch. There was a part of my mind that was yelling at me, a part that got smaller by the second as he moved down to kiss my neck, that told me we were going a little bit too far, too fast. I mean, we had only really decided to start this relationship last night. But all objections flew out of my mind as he kissed up my jaw line to the spot under my ear. I pulled his lips back up to mine and had to hold back a smirk when I heard him gasp. I lost track of time after that. It was strange, it felt as if we had been doing this for hours, and also as if it had only been a few minutes. His warm hand was burning my skin as it made its way up my shirt when Emma walked in. "Oh!" she said, looking at us in wide-eyed shock.

Seth jumped off of me and landed on the floor. I could see the blush rising on his cheeks and I knew I looked the exact same way. "Uh… Hi, Aunt Emma," I said, trying not to look her directly in the eye.

She smirked at us but I could see that she was overjoyed. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at her. She had already caught us making out on the couch; it wouldn't be a very good idea to piss her off now. I didn't know if she would be mad or not. "What are you two up to?"

"Not much," I said, trying to look nonchalant.

She actually laughed at that. "Sure," she said, the sarcasm leaking into her voice as she hung her coat up in the closet by the stairs. "That's what it looked like. Will you be staying for dinner, Seth?"

He stood up and nervously tried to straighten out his short black hair. "Actually, I should probably be heading home now."

"Is Sue coming to get you?" Emma asked, looking a little too excited at the prospect of her friend coming by. She probably wanted to let her know that they were successful in setting the two of us up.

"I, uh… I don't know. I…" he said, stumbling nervously over his words.

I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed his hand. "Come on, we can call your house and find out," I said, pulling him into the kitchen. I could hear Emma chuckling as I closed the door behind us. "You know, you don't have to be so nervous around Emma. She's so excited about this," I said, pointing to the two of us, "that she's probably only seconds away from pissing herself."

"Still, I didn't really want her to walk in on that," he said. I understood his point. I could only imagine what she would say once Seth left. There would probably be a lot of squealing about how she had been right. "I'm going to call Leah, see if she can pick me up." I sat on the counter while he talked to his sister. Once he was finished, he stood in front of me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Aren't you supposed to have super-hearing or something?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

He raised an eyebrow at me and said, "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, then, why didn't you hear Emma? It would have made things a lot less awkward."

"Sorry," he smirked. "I was a little occupied, you know."

I laughed and leaned up to kiss him again, but he stepped back and pulled me off the counter. I understood why a second later when Emma walked in. "Is your mother on her way?" she asked Seth.

He shook his head and said, "She wasn't there, but Leah should be here soon."

"Okay," she said. She walked to the fridge and grabbed something out of the freezer. But from the way she kept looking over at the two of us, I wasn't sure if she was actually making supper or making sure we weren't left unsupervised for too long.

After a few awkward minutes that somehow managed to feel like hours, a pair of headlights shone in through the front window and reflected off of the kitchen wall. Seth turned to me and gave me a small smile. "You should come to La Push tomorrow," he said, pulling me into a tight hug.

"Okay," I said, trying not to blush. I knew that Emma didn't care, in fact she was probably overjoyed by this little sign of affection, but it still felt weird doing this right in front of her. He waved to Emma after he had pulled away, a slight blush on his face, and practically sprinted out of the house. How awkward. I tried to slip out of the room as well, not wanting to hear Emma crow about how she had known this would happen, but she caught me.

"Hold on a minute!" she said. "I want to talk to you."

I sighed and jumped back onto the counter. "About what?" I asked.

She didn't answer for a couple minutes, getting some chicken ready for dinner. Then she turned back to me and smiled. "So, you and Seth, huh?"

"Uh… yeah," I said, trying not to make eye contact. She opened her mouth to say something but I stopped her. "Please don't say anything about how you knew it would happen."

"I wasn't going to," she said, doing a poor job of holding in her laughter. "I just thought you two were fighting."

"No," I said. "That was just a misunderstanding."

"Some misunderstanding," she scoffed. "Well, you made up pretty fast."

I looked at her in confusion. "What, you don't approve?"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Liz," she said. "Of course I approve. I just wanted to make sure you knew the consequences of moving too fast in a physical relationship."

I looked at her in horror. "Please tell me we are not going to have _that_ conversation."

"I just want you to be safe," she said. "Now, abstinence is the best way to stay safe, but I've seen enough to know that that isn't likely to happen. But you need to know that condoms -"

"Oh my God," I interrupted, putting my hands over my ears. "I never want to hear you say the word 'condoms' again."

"Elizabeth, this is not a joke," Emma said sternly. "I just – I know how teenage boys are and I want you to be prepared. I think you're a little too young for sex, but just promise me that you'll use protection if it comes to that. And I could get an appointment with one of the gynecologists at the hospital if you think you want to try birth control."

I felt completely mortified and I could feel the heat radiating from my cheeks. My face must have resembled a tomato. I jumped off the counter and said, "Um... I think I'm going to go lay down."

"Are you feeling sick?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

I had just gotten the sex talk from a relative that I barely knew, of course I was feeling sick. "Yeah, sure," I said, racing out of the room. I had to get out of there before she started going through all of the sexually transmitted diseases that I was in danger of catching by simply kissing my boyfriend.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I just like to hold Seth hostage in my basement from time to time.

**A/N:** Sorry it's taken me this long to get this done :( I've had school, work, and poor attempts at a life. Thank you so much to everyone that's reviewed, they all meant so much to me! I'd thank you all individually but I burned my finger while baking Christmas cookies earlier and typing is kind of a pain, haha. I hope you guys like this chapter too! And thanks so much to Laurelyn for betaing!!

**Chapter 11**

Emma decided to stay home the next day, probably hoping to supervise Seth and me, so I was glad when he invited me to La Push. I couldn't believe how different things were. The last time I had been around Seth's group of friends, they had mostly ignored me and had spent their time talking only to each other. But this time, it seemed like they were all coming up to me and welcoming me to the pack. It bothered me a little at first; I had outrageously thought that I was going to become a werewolf, but then Seth explained that all imprints were considered part of the family and I understood. Jacob seemed to be the only that was upset with me, although it didn't me long to realize that it wasn't because of the imprinting thing.

He had pulled me aside almost as soon as I arrived and said, "Look, I know that Seth told you."

"Told me what?" I asked, feeling a little confused.

"Don't play stupid, Liz. Seth told you about Bella. He was thinking about it when he was patrolling last night," Jacob said. His mouth was set in a hard, angry line as he talked, but his mask fell away when he spoke her name. It was clear that simply thinking about her was like rubbing salt in an open wound.

"Oh, that," I said, trying to act like I hadn't just had a nightmare about an eighteen year old girl with red eyes sneaking through my bedroom window and telling me that it was my turn to make the change.

"Yes, that," he said, the angry mask coming back. "Seth shouldn't have told you about that. It's none of your business and— "

I cut him off before he could get himself all worked up. "It's not his fault. I made him tell me."

"I know," Jacob said, looking at me as if I had somehow betrayed him. "And stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like you pity me," he said. "I don't want it. I'm perfectly fine, you know."

"Clearly," I said, raising an eyebrow at him. It was so obvious that he was still broken up over this girl. He could hardly say her name without doubling over in pain. I wasn't going to point that out, though; he was practically twice my size and could snap me like a twig if he felt like it.

"I don't want your pity," he said.

"I don't pity you, Jacob," I lied, not wanting to upset him. He looked at me in annoyance, as if he was determining whether to call my bluff or not. "Look, I won't bring it up or anything," I said, trying to get back on Jacob's good side. If I had known that it would piss him off this much, I wouldn't have made Seth tell me. Or I would have at least avoided Jacob at all costs for a couple days.

He sighed in annoyance and said, "Just don't mention it to anyone, okay? Some of the guys are still pissed that we didn't go after the Cullens after they broke the treaty."

"Why didn't you?" I asked curiously.

His face was pained again for a moment before it was wiped of all emotion. "Because I told them not to," he said simply before stalking off. I went back to Seth after that, feeling more than a little unsettled by my conversation with Jacob. I know he didn't want me to pity him but it was hard not to. It must have been hard, knowing that not only did the girl he was in love with choose to marry someone else, but that she also chose to become his mortal enemy. What would happen if he saw her now? Would he still love her, even as a vampire, or would he attack her? Maybe Seth was right; it would just be better for him to imprint on someone, even if it did take away his free will. At least he wouldn't feel that heart-wrenching pain every time someone mentioned her name.

I also met the two other imprints while I was there, and I have to admit that I was a little embarrassed to find out that I was the only one who had completely freaked out about it. Though to be fair, Kim and Rachel had grown up with the legends so it might not have seemed as insane to them. Still, it was nice to see that imprinting could be a good thing. Kim had had a crush on Jared long before he imprinted on her and being with Paul made it easier for Rachel to stay in a town that seemed to be haunted by her mother's memory. But I learned that it wasn't always easy, either. It had ripped Sam and Leah apart, not to mention that Quil had imprinted on Claire, the toddler I had played Barbies with the last time I was in La Push. That was one of the weirdest things about imprinting; it didn't have any kind of age limit. It was creepy at first, the fact that Quil had experienced love at first sight with a two year old, but then Seth explained it to me. Quil wasn't physically attracted to Claire, not yet anyways; it was more like she was the little sister he would do anything to protect. It still seemed kind of creepy to me but it didn't seem as gross after that.

Everything was going great until Brady stormed into the kitchen and said they had found a new scent near the reservation. Sam jumped into action then, directing everyone around. "Brady, Seth, go get Colin and keep a tight perimeter around the reservation. The rest of you, come with me." Even I could hear the authority in his voice and I knew that no one would dare go against what he said, although Seth did look a little annoyed by it. I could tell that he hated being pushed aside, performing menial tasks that kept him out of the action, but I was glad that Sam was trying to protect him. I liked Seth much more than I should have this early in our relationship and I didn't want anything to happen to him.

Brady ran right back out the door, his body shivering as he went, while Jacob and Paul walked quickly to Sam, trying to work out some kind of strategy for surrounding the vampire. Seth turned to me and said, "I'll be back soon. Stay here, okay?" He kissed my forehead softly, lingering there for a moment, and then ran out the door. I watched him go with a frown, wondering if he would still be perfectly healthy when he got back.

Rachel left with the rest of the pack, wanting to tell her father about this. Billy Black was an elder of the tribe and was apparently very important in the pack, even though he could not transform into a wolf. Once they were all gone, Emily smiled and said, "He'll be fine. The vampires never even get close to the reservation." But I could tell that she was only trying to reassure me. And even if Seth was safe, that didn't mean the others would be okay. I mean, they were actually going after the vampire, and I was worried about them, too. I had only really met them today but I already felt like I was a part of their large family. I had never experienced anything like it before, this feeling of belonging, and I didn't want to lose it now.

I smiled weakly at her and followed her and Kim into the small kitchen. "I thought there weren't any vampires around now that the Cullens are gone," I said, feeling slightly confused. Were there still some of those weird newborn ones around? And what did that mean for the people in Forks?

"There really haven't been," Kim said. "At least, not until a couple of weeks ago."

"There are some around here now?" I asked shrilly, the fear quite obvious in my voice.

"Don't worry, Liz," Emily said soothingly. "The pack won't let anything happen to anyone in Forks. And these ones are probably just passing through, anyways. They'll be gone soon." I smiled uncertainly at the both of them, grateful that I was around others who had experience in this strange supernatural world. I helped them with supper after that, both of them teaching me how to cook. I was amazed at how welcoming they were. I hardly knew either of them but I never once felt out of place or unwanted.

Despite what Seth had said, he wasn't back soon. Emily brought me home after the three of us had small plates of the feast we had made. I felt slightly awkward; the whole time I couldn't stop remembering how rude I had been to her the last time I saw her. Once we reached Emma's house, I turned to her and said, "Emily, I'm really sorry about the way I acted last weekend."

She laughed, "Oh, don't worry about that, Liz. You had a perfectly good reason for acting like that. I'm sure you thought we were all crazy."

"That's putting it lightly," I laughed. "But I should have listened to you. You were right, he is still the same Seth. I just… needed a little time to see that."

"I knew you would," she smiled. I smiled back at her and then turned to jump out of her truck. She stopped me by grabbing onto my elbow and said, "Liz, feel free to come by anytime. You're always welcome."

A strange feeling came over me then. It was weird, knowing that I was now considered a part of the large family in La Push. I had no experience with anything like this and I didn't know how to react. "Thanks," I muttered, giving her a tight smile. Then I hopped out of the truck and sprinted through the rain to the front door. I was incredibly relieved to see that Emma hadn't waited up for me. I don't think I could have handled another sex talk. There was a note next to the telephone in the hallway, telling me that Lydia had called and wanted me to call her back as soon as I got home. I couldn't do it, though. I was feeling antsy and I couldn't exactly tell her that I was worried that my werewolf boyfriend might get into a fight to the death with a vampire. I went to bed after that, although it took me a long time to fall asleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I could only relive my nightmare of the red-eyed vampire hurting Seth.

----

Lydia was standing by the front door of the school, watching as the bright yellow school bus pulled up. I frowned when I realized that she would want to hear everything. It was nice having a friend like this here, one that was actually interested in my life, but it wasn't like I could tell her much. The people of Forks weren't supposed to know about the supernatural myths that ruled the forest. She ran up to me as soon as I stepped off the bus. "You never called me back last night," she said, looking a little disappointed.

"Yeah," I said, feeling more than a little guilty. "Sorry, I got in late."

She smirked at that. "Aaah, I get it. You're too busy for your friends now that you've got a boyfriend."

"What? No!" I said, feeling even worse. I could see how it would seem that way, but I didn't want to become that person.

Lydia laughed. "I was just kidding, Liz. So when do I get to meet him?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You met him on Friday."

"Well, it was kind of hard to properly introduce myself when his tongue was down your throat," she said.

"His tongue was not down my –" I started to say in indignation.

"Regardless," she interrupted. "I want to meet him, and I'm sure everyone else does too. We should all do something this weekend."

"Like what?" I asked. It wasn't as if there were a whole lot of options here in Forks. And I didn't even know if Seth would be able to go anywhere; those vampires might still be hanging around Forks. Although, I do have to admit that the very thought of them being within a hundred miles of this town made me want to spend all of my time with him.

She shrugged as we reached Building Six. "I don't know," she said. "I'll think of something." I watched warily as she walked to her Biology class. I wasn't sure how I felt about Lydia planning our weekend activities. Knowing her, we'd probably end up at some night club in Seattle.

I spent most of the morning worrying about what Lydia would try to force me to do now. Of course, Sammy didn't help things much when she mentioned the very large party Lydia threw as a way for everyone to get to know Will. By the time lunch rolled around, I was convinced that Lydia would want to hold a parade in Seth's honor. So I was more than a little anxious when I spotted her waiting at our usual table in the cafeteria.

"Liz, I've got the perfect idea!" she said, practically bouncing in her seat.

"We're not throwing a party," I deadpanned, trying to prevent her from going out of control. Sammy snorted into her soda can while Will's face turned a light pink color in embarrassment.

She frowned. "Believe me, I learned my lesson from that disaster."

Chase smirked, "Your mom wasn't too happy when she came back, was she?"

She glared at him. "If you guys had helped me clean up, she would have never known about the party in the first place."

"Hey, I told you that it was a bad idea," Chase said.

"So? You still could have helped," Lydia said, scowling.

They fell into their normal pattern of bickering and I did my best to ignore them. "I thought you were fighting with him," Will said. He had been warming up to me but it was still so weird hearing him talk. His voice was surprisingly deep for someone his age and raspy, probably from the lack of use.

"Oh no, they more than made up Friday night, isn't that right, Liz?" Sam said. I felt my neck getting hot and she started to laugh. "What were you guys fighting about, anyways?"

I shrugged. "I was just being stupid, really." They both gave me a strange look as I stared down at my lunch. I'd always hated liars and I felt more than a little disgust at the fact that I was becoming one. I shook my head, trying to rid those thoughts from my mind, and turned to Lydia. "So what's your idea?"

"We could go down to La Push!" she grinned, obviously proud of herself for thinking this up. "Their beach is so nice and we could have a bonfire!"

"You just want to run into that group of guys down there," Chase smirked.

"What group of guys?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Those really tall ones that are always walking around half-naked," Lydia said. "Does Seth know them? Cause, I mean, he does kind of look like one of them." I started choking on my food when I realized she was talking about the pack. I didn't really think Lydia would enjoy hanging out with a bunch of werewolves, but it wasn't like I could warn her. She hit me on the back a couple times and asked, "Liz? Are you okay?"

"I think it's a little too cold for a bonfire," I said, trying to avoid that landmine. "Can't we just go to the movies in Port Angeles or something?"

"But that's so _boring_," Lydia said, her voice sounding a little whiney.

"Yeah, and there's no chance of running into those gorgeous Quileute boys in Port Angeles," Chase laughed.

"I thought you wanted to meet Seth?" I asked, a little annoyed. I was trying desperately to keep my friends out of the freak show world that Seth and his friends inhabited, and they were making it very difficult.

"We do," Lydia said sheepishly. "It's just… you'll understand once you see them all walking around shirtless."

And I'm sure she'd understand why I didn't want her around the pack once she saw them all exploding into giant wolves. "Isn't that new _Resident Evil_ movie coming out this week?"

Lydia gave me a weird look. "Zombies, Liz? Really?"

"What's wrong with zombies?" I asked. I liked zombies. As far as I knew, they were the only monsters that didn't exist.

"Fine," she sighed. "But you should see if he can bring some of his friends." I rolled my eyes and nodded, hoping that they all had patrol duty that night.

The rest of the day was a little awkward. Lydia was very determined on getting an introduction to at least one of Seth's friends and wouldn't shut up about it. It was a lot more difficult than I had realized, keeping my normal friends out of what was quickly becoming my not-so-normal life. Honestly, I was glad when the day ended. I evaded Chase after English by pretending I had forgotten my government textbook in my locker and ducked onto the bus. I hoped he wouldn't wait for long; I just didn't think I could handle Lydia insisting on being set up with one of Seth's friends anymore. And she would probably help Emma lock me up in a padded room if I started ranting on about the dangers of dating a werewolf. I sighed in relief when the bus pulled up in front of the empty house. I was glad that Emma wasn't home yet; I didn't think I could stand any more of her watching me. It was very strange; she had gone from being completely awkward and unsure of what to do around me to watching my every move like a hawk, as if she thought I was going to rip off my clothes and start doing unthinkable things with the egg whisk right there on her kitchen table.

I felt discombobulated. It had come as a nasty shock at school, the realization that I would have to keep my real life, the one I spent cavorting around with supernatural creatures, away from my friends. I really liked Lydia, Chase and Sammy, but I could never actually tell them the truth about Seth. I could never tell them that I didn't want to them to meet his friends because I didn't want the two worlds to mix, or that I was incredibly worried about him because he spent his free time chasing the undead. I didn't like having to keep things from them, even though I knew it was absolutely necessary. This, coupled with the fact that Emma seemed to think I was some kind of sexual deviant now, was messing with my head. I tried doing my homework, cleaning the kitchen, and watching crappy court shows on TV, but I couldn't focus on anything. It was pathetic but I wished that Seth would show up and ease my nerves, the way he always seemed to whenever I was around him. But that only annoyed me further because I didn't want to be _that_ girl, the one that needed her boyfriend around her at all times. I finally couldn't take it anymore. I had to clear my head somehow, and I knew that going for a run would be the best way to do it. I grabbed Sophie, knowing that she was big enough to intimidate any animals or creepy citizens that I might run into, hooked her to a leash and rushed out the door without even bothering to grab a coat.

I enjoyed running and I didn't pay attention to where I was going, not that I knew the roads of Forks well enough anyways. It was so easy to forget everything that was bothering me when I felt the wind pushing against me or heard the rhythmic slap of my sneakers on the concrete. Everything cleared and finding solutions to my problems was so much easier than it was before. I didn't think there was anything I could do to keep my school friends away from the wolves. The only feasible option I could see would be distancing myself from them, which I definitely didn't want to do. They were the only friends I had made in this god forsaken town. I didn't count Seth and the Quileutes; the reservation wasn't really in town, was it? And besides that, Lydia was a force to be reckoned with. There would be no way I could stop her from going down to La Push and stubbornly sitting on First Beach until I introduced her to the pack. I could only hope that none of them would imprint on her and she would stay blissfully unaware of what actually happened on the reservation. I would have an easier time fixing things with Emma. I would have to really work at controlling my hormones around Seth, but it would be worth it once she stopped looking at me as if I were some kind of sex addict.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Sophie stopped short behind me, practically causing my arm to come out of its socket when I tried to pull her along. We were on a deserted road that was surrounded by forest, and she was looking at a certain spot to the left, growling and showing her teeth. This was just great; she was going to fight whatever it was that was hiding in the forest instead of letting me just get the hell out of there. Maybe it had been a bad idea to bring her along. "Come on, you stupid mutt," I said, pulling as hard as I could on her leash. She didn't move an inch though. Instead, she backed up further and started to whimper.

And that was when it happened. It was like he had stepped right out of one of my nightmares. His black hair contrasted greatly against his ghostly pale skin, making his appearance horrifying and beautiful at the same time.. He was tall, taller than Seth and all of his friends, and his muscles were so thick that it looked like he could easily crush a school bus with just a twitch of his fingers. His eyes were black, but a dark crimson color lined his irises. I knew what he was the second I saw him; the Quileute legends had described them perfectly, and I was frozen in terror. He was a vampire, probably the same one that the pack had been chasing last night. And he was staring at me in the same way that someone would look at a glass of water after they had been lost in the Sahara for days.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** Twilight and all of its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. I just own Liz and Emma.

**A/N:** I know, I know. It took me forever to get this up and I am sorry about that. My life has just been crazy busy with school and work and clinicals. I actually had ¾ of this written when my old computer crashed and I wasn't able to get it back. I ended up rewriting this whole chapter in an old paper notebook, mostly while I was in class haha, so my lowered gpa and I really hope you guys like this! I've been getting PMs both on here and livejournal and I just want you guys to know that **I am not giving up on this story_._** I know it takes me forever to update but that is because I really don't have a lot of time to write. However, that doesn't mean I'm going to stop so I really hope you guys can overlook that fact and just stick with this story because I promise I am not going to abandon it. I have another extra, too, so I'll make sure to send that out to everyone that reviews! It'll take me a couple days to type it up and everything so please don't get upset if I don't send it right away. :) And many, many thank you's go out to Ledybug from Twilighted for betaing this so quickly _and_ to neverland300690 for translating for me!

**Chapter 12**

I stared at him in shock, my feet frozen in place. I could literally feel myself shaking in fear. His dark eyes watched me in amusement as a cruel smile formed on his face. Sophie, who was actually turning out to be quite the wimp, cowered behind me.

"Buongiorno[i]," he said. His voice was soft and musical, almost as if he were singing.

I let out an embarrassingly loud noise, something like a squeak, which sounded so loud over the faint sound of my knees knocking together. His eyes narrowed as he looked me over, not seeming to enjoy my fear. Maybe there was too much of it, I could seriously feel every nerve in my body telling me to turn around and run away but my legs weren't getting the message. It's not like I would have been able to get very far, the Quileute legends said that vampires were able to move faster than the human eye could see. It was something that I had had a hard time believing but it was easy to pick up on now. He advanced on me, moving from across the street to only a foot away in under a second. My feet finally started working again and I stumbled backwards, trying desperately not to fall and make myself easy prey. "Stay away from me," I said.

"You know what I am," he said, his voice low and deadly. It was a statement, not a question, and I knew that I had let too much fear show through on my face. I didn't bother responding, I just backed up further. "Who told you about us?" he asked, his voice was low and frightening and yet even more beautiful in his fury. "Was it the Cullens?"

"What? No!" I said, my shock breaking through the cloud of terror.

Another one walked out from the forest then and Sophie whined, trying to forcibly pull me in the opposite direction down the deserted road. He had the same pale skin, although there was a hint of what must been a darker pigment in life, and his dark black hair reached his shoulders. His eyes were a crimson red and he was wearing the same strange dark grey cloak as the other one. He sighed when he took in the sight of us. "Devi sempre giocare con il tuo cibo, Felix? Muoviti. Jane ci sta aspettando.[ii]"

The first one, Felix, turned to the second one and said, "Lei sa cosa siamo.[iii]"

"Non essere ridicolo[iv]," the second one said. They both turned sharply when a loud howling sound came from the forest surrounding the road. My fear grew tenfold when I realized that the wolves must have picked up on their scent. I could only hope that they would run off before the wolves managed to find them here.

"Che caz[v]-" Felix said, before the long-haired one cut him off.

"Questo e impossibile.[vi]" An answering howl came from another part of the woods.

"Credevo che Caius si dispose di tutti quelli come loro[vii]," Felix said.

"Credevo che loro non abitassero nel America del Nord,[viii]" the second one said. A slight confusion was breaking through the horror. What the hell were they saying? The language they were speaking sounded Italian but I couldn't be sure. And why couldn't they just leave? I didn't even want to think about what might happen if Seth or any of his friends tried to fight them. It felt like all of my nightmares were quickly coming true.

I tried to back up slowly, hoping not to catch their attention as I made my escape, but I stopped in my tracks at what I saw next. Three huge wolves came walking out of the forest, growling and baring their teeth. I scanned the pack and felt relief wash over me when I didn't see the familiar tan wolf. The guilt took me then. How could I feel relief when one of the others might die at the hands of these vampires? The biggest one, who had strange russet fur, started circling the long-haired one while the other two, one had dark chocolate brown fur while the other was a dark grey color with black spots, turned to Felix. "Ci sara da divertirsi[ix]," he hissed, baring his teeth at the wolves.

It started then. The russet-colored wolf lunged at the long-haired vampire and he darted quickly out of the way. The grey wolf kept circling Felix while the chocolate brown one lagged behind. It was almost as if the grey one was trying to distract the vampire while the brown one attacked. It seemed to be working too; Felix was having trouble keeping his attention on both of the wolves. Suddenly, the grey one lunged and Felix raised his hands to meet him head on, but he darted out of the way just as quickly. He had done his job, though, because Felix was too distracted to see the brown one come at him. He bit the vampire's hand and ripped it straight off. Felix yelled in pain and turned to hit the wolf. He wasn't fast enough, though; the brown wolf was already out of his reach. I was actually a little surprised. I knew from the legends that the wolves were supposed to be super strong and really fast but I hadn't expected it to be this evenly matched. The two smaller wolves actually looked like they might have a chance against Felix, the bigger of the two vampires, and the russet-colored wolf seemed to be holding his own against the long-haired one as well. It made me feel a little silly for worrying about Seth so much, actually. If only three of them were this evenly matched against two vampires, I could only imagine how overpowering the entire pack was.

But then the brown wolf lunged at the burly vampire again and Felix was able to catch him. He grabbed him around the middle and flexed his muscles, effectively squeezing the animal the way one would squeeze open a bag of potato chips. The wolf let out a loud whimper as it tried desperately to escape. The russet wolf turned away from the long-haired vampire and lunged at the bigger one. Felix didn't see him, he was facing away from the other fight, and so it took him completely by surprise when the wolf bit into his neck. Felix yelled in pain and dropped the brown wolf. The grey one took this opportunity to jump onto the vampire as well and ripped his entire arm off with his teeth. The long-haired vampire surveyed the fight for only a second before he turned and ran off into the forest, not even bothering to help his friend. Felix didn't stand a chance after that. I watched in horror as the wolves tore him apart, one piece at a time.

"Liz!" Suddenly, I was being pulled into a pair of warm arms. "Don't watch," a familiar voice said as a large hand cupped my face and turned it away from the violent scene. It took me a minute to realize that my head was being held against a warm naked chest. I pulled away slightly and looked up to see Seth's dark brown eyes watching over me in concern. I gasped and then pulled myself closer to him, not even noticing when the salty tears started falling down my cheeks. "Shhh," he said, slowly rubbing my back. "It's alright. I'm here now. I won't let them touch you."

There was a strange keening noise, followed by a loud snap and finally there was silence. I closed my eyes tightly, trying not to imagine what had just happened to the strange vampire. Not that I wasn't relieved that he was gone, but I was so shocked that the wolves, my friends, had killed him so easily. I kept my eyes closed for what felt like a long time after that, keeping my face pressed up against Seth and trying to pretend that I hadn't just come that close to my death.

"Liz," Seth finally said, his hand pausing on my back. "It's okay. They're gone. They can't hurt you now." I didn't say anything, I just tried to pull myself even closer to him.

"She looks like she's going to be sick," someone said. It sounded like Jacob, but I couldn't be sure. It's kind of embarrassing but it was hard to hear him over the sound of my loud sobs.

I did manage to hear Seth whisper, "What should I do?" He sounded so panicked. I guess he didn't have that much experience with hysterical girls.

"Maybe we should get her out of the road," someone suggested, although I didn't recognize their voice.

"Let's take her back to La Push," Sam said, his loud, commanding voice breaking through. "Paul, take the dog back to Emma's house and then meet us at my place. Seth, you can carry her."

I was pulling myself so close to Seth that I could actually feel his muscles moving as he nodded. "Liz," he said softly, lowering his head so he was whispering in my ear. "I'm going to pick you up and take you to Sam's house. Is that okay?"

I didn't think I could move, my limbs felt like they were froze in place, but I didn't want to stay out here in the open. It made me feel too vulnerable, like some kind of sitting duck. I didn't know if there were any more of them out here and I didn't really care to find out. "Yeah," I said, slowly pulling away from him and wiping at the wet tear tracks on my face. Once I opened my eyes and looked around me for the first time since the rest of the pack had shown up, I let out another loud, embarrassing squeak and threw my hands over my eyes. Seth was standing in front of me completely _naked_. I heard one of the others start to snigger as my cheeks turned hot.

"Oh right," Seth said, his voice was strangely high-pitched in his embarrassment. "Sorry. I was in such a rush that I hadn't really thought about -"

"It's okay," I said, cutting him off to avoid further awkwardness. It's not like I had never thought of Seth naked before, and he looked just as beautiful as I had thought he would. It's just that I had never imagined that I would get to see him in all his glory in front of his friends, right after a vampire had tried to take my life. I kept my eyes close for a couple of minutes and then asked, "Is it okay to look?"

"Yeah," he said nervously. "Sorry." I gave him a weak smile as he held his arms out to me. "Do you mind?" I shook my head and he picked me up carefully, cradling me to his chest as if he thought I might have a nervous breakdown at any second. He wasn't really that far off, actually. The tears were still running silently down my face and I felt like I was going to throw up. The fact that Seth was running quickly through the woods didn't help much, the steady rhythm of his legs hitting the dirt was only upsetting my stomach even more. I closed my eyes tightly and tried my hardest to block everything out. It was difficult, though. Instead of seeing the darkness of my eyelids, there were hungry black eyes and pointed teeth. "God, Liz," Seth muttered, holding me closer to his chest as he ran. I was a little surprised that he didn't sound out of breath. I mean, I knew he was in shape (in fact, I had just been reminded of that only five minutes earlier) but he was literally sprinting through the woods. "I'm so sorry I didn't get there sooner. We were running patrols when we caught the scent and Sam made me stay back at the reservation until we realized they had you cornered."

I wanted to say something to him, let him know that I was just glad he was there at all, but I knew that I would vomit if I opened my mouth. Which was exactly what happened the second he put me down in Sam's front yard. I heard someone chuckle as I lost my lunch all over Emily's rose bushes, but it cut out quickly as the sound of someone getting smacked filled the air.

"Liz, honey, are you alright?" Emily asked from the doorway when I had finally emptied my stomach. "Do you want me to get Sue?"

I shook my head, feeling more than a little embarrassed that I had just barfed in front of everyone. And it really felt like _everyone_, I'm pretty sure that more than half the pack had gathered on Sam's front lawn. "I'm sorry about your roses, Emily."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Maybe you should come lay down in -"

Sam cut her off. "Not yet," he said, shaking his head. "We need to hear what happened."

Seth made a face, clearly annoyed by what Sam had said. "We can't do this inside?" he asked defiantly as he placed one of his long arms around my shoulders.

"It's fine," I whispered, feeling my body respond to him without any conscious thought as I put my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest. "I'm fine."

"You are not fine," he said, pulling me closer into his protective embrace. "That vampire -" I let out an involuntary shiver and he tightened his arms around me. "I'm sorry. I just... I'm never letting you out of my sight again." I should have objected. I mean, I am an independent woman completely capable of taking care of myself, and besides, I didn't want him anywhere near that bloodsucker. But I couldn't deny that I enjoyed the thought of being around him all the time.

I sighed heavily, recalling that my growing co-dependence on Seth was what had gotten me into this whole mess, and pulled away. "What do you want to know?" I asked Sam.

"Did they say anything to you?" Sam asked. He was quickly flanked by Jared and Paul as they came into the clearing, both of them looked ready for a fight. "Anything at all? Maybe something that suggested why they were here or what they were doing in Forks?"

"Or when they plan on leaving," Paul added with a scowl.

"Yes," I said bitingly. "They gave me their whole travel itinerary right before they tried to eat me." Seth laughed softly at this as he buried his face in my hair.

"This is important, Liz," Sam said, annoyed. "We need to know everything they said."

I didn't really care to remember anything about the vampires. Actually, there was nothing I wanted more than to forget that this whole thing happened. I was going to say just that to Sam when Jacob and his two humungous friend came crashing through the trees. Jacob shook his head as soon as he saw Sam. "We couldn't catch up to him. He ran west and took off into the water."

"You mean one of them is still out there?" I asked, the horror starting to set in again. I felt my knees give out on me and Seth quickly grabbed me around the waist, trying to hold me up by forcing me to lean on him.

"It's okay," he said. "I'll protect you, I promise. He won't get anywhere near you."

Sam turned back to me and said, "Liz, please. Try to remember anything that might help us find him."

"They mentioned the Cullens," I said, trying to remember everything they had said even though most of it hadn't been in English. "But they really didn't say much. It was mostly in Italian, except when they were accusing me of knowing they were vampires, which they were not very happy about, believe me." I knew I was rambling but I couldn't seem to make it stop.

"Italian?" Sam said, his eyebrows rose in shock. He turned to Jacob and asked, "Didn't Bella run off to Italy to save one of the Cullens from some Italian vampires?"

Jacob scrunched up his nose, clearly not enjoying remembering it. "Yeah, they were some kind of royal family of parasites." My eyes grew wide in fright at the thought of a royal court of vampires. He turned to me, a confused look on his face, and said, "They were looking for the Cullens?"

"No," I clarified. "They weren't looking for them. They just wanted to know if they had told me about vampires. But they talked to each other in Italian so I really have no idea what they were saying."

Sam turned back to Jacob and asked, "What did Bella say about these Italian bloodsuckers?"

Jacob shrugged. "She said they were kind of like the fang police. They had a bunch of guards that went around the world and made sure that the rest of the bloodsucker population followed their rules. The only reason Edward," he spit the name out like it was some kind of cussword, "went there was because he wanted them to kill him after he was misinformed about Bella's death."

"What?" I said, thoroughly confused by what he had just said. It didn't make any sense at all.

They ignored me, though. One of Jacob's friends, I think his name was Quil, said, "Don't the Cullens have that fortuneteller? Shouldn't she be able to see if the Queen of the Damned is looking for them?"

"I don't think it works like that," Seth said, speaking up for the first time. "Anyways, it doesn't sound like they were friends with these Italians so I don't see why they'd make the trip here, even if they knew they were looking for them."

"Because people are being killed!" Paul yelled, clearly pissed off at the thought of the Cullens hiding from these vampires while the people of the Olympic Peninsula paid the price. "I don't know if you noticed, Seth, but those are the same bloodsuckers that killed those kids in Hoquiam."

"I know, I smelled them too," he said, looking a little embarrassed. "I just can't see the Cullens coming back to meet these vampires if they're only going to hurt them."

"You think that's why they're here?" Jacob asked, looking almost concerned about the Cullens. I couldn't help by wonder if he still cared about that girl, the one who chose becoming a vampire over him. "Because they want to hurt the Cullens?"

Paul snorted. "Good luck to them. Where are the Cullens staying, anyways? Maybe we can point them in the right direction."

"Don't joke about that, Paul," Seth said, clearly offended. It almost seemed like he liked the Cullens, considered them his friends or something. "We can't just let them go after the Cullens."

"They can't stay here!" Paul yelled, visibly upset by the fact that Seth was standing up for this mysterious vampire family. His hands were clenched into fists and his arms were shaking.

Jacob's hard, angry mask was back when he said, "Knock it off, Paul. We don't even know if they were actually looking for the Cullens."

"You heard what she said!" he yelled, practically exploding in anger.

"They never said they were looking for the Cullens," I said, trying to clarify before Paul burst into a giant wolf. "They just mentioned them in passing, really."

"Yes, but you said they talked in Italian the rest of the time so you really don't know what it was that they wanted," he said. It was like he didn't want to listen to reason and instead just chose to be angry.

Jared spoke up then. "Maybe we should follow their scent, see where they went while they were here. It might help us figure out what they wanted. And maybe we should check out the old Cullen place, see if they were nosing around over there."

Sam thought it over for a second and then he nodded. He spoke in his authoritative pack leader voice when he said, "Jared, Paul and I will go check on the Cullen's house. Quil, Jacob, Embry, follow their scents but wait for us if you find them. The rest of you should keep a tight perimeter around the rez in case they get curious about us and follow our scents back here." Then he turned to look at me and sighed, "Seth, get her inside."

"Come on, Liz," he said, practically dragging me inside the house since my legs still didn't seem to be working properly.

Emily started to fuss over me as soon as we walked in the door. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked, looking slightly out of her element. I guess she had never really dealt with someone that had almost been eaten by the undead. "Maybe something to eat?"

The mere thought of food make my stomach heave violently and I shook my head frantically. "That might not be such a good idea," Seth said. "I think she should lie down. Is that okay, Liz?" I nodded as he led me straight through her kitchen into her small living room. He placed me on the worn couch, put his hands on my shoulders and looked me directly in the eye. The sight of that familiar warm brown calmed me down considerably, but there was a small voice in the back of my head that started to berate me for being so pathetic. _This is what got you into this whole mess, Liz! Knock it off!_

But I threw that part of me aside as soon as Seth started to leave. "Where are you going?" I asked, my voice taking on an unappealing squeakiness in my panic.

"You heard Sam," he said. "I have to go help patrol the rez."

I didn't care about that, though. I didn't want Seth out there with the rest of the pack. What if the vampire came back? I knew now that the wolves were perfectly capable of holding their own in a fight but that didn't matter to me. I selfishly wanted him there with me, safe in my arms, while the rest of the pack fought those monsters. I knew it was wrong but I was simply too scared to keep it to myself. "No," I said, grabbing onto both of his arms and holding on as tight as I could, even though I knew he could easily break my hold if he wanted to. "Don't go."

He looked slightly alarmed by my reaction. "I have to go. I can't just leave those guys out there by themselves."

But that was exactly what I wanted him to do. "Please stay," I said, trying to silently beg him with my eyes. "At least until I fall asleep." It was the perfect plan, or at least I thought so. There was no way I would be able to fall asleep so he would be forced to stay inside Emily's house with me, where there was no chance of him getting into some kind of fight to the death with a walking corpse.

His face softened and I knew he would agree. "But just until you fall asleep. Then I really have to go."

"Thanks," I said, lying back on the couch. He lay down next to me, as best as he could anyways. His feet were hanging off the end in a way that looked completely uncomfortable but he didn't seem to mind. He put his arms around my waits and pulled me close to him. We were forced so close together on that small couch that I could feel his chest rising and falling, his warm breath ruffling my hair on every exhale. And then the strangest thing happened. I thought sleep was impossible simply because every time I closed my eyes, I saw that burly, black-eyed bloodsucker advancing on me. But all of the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins since my fight-or-flight response kicked in had finally left my system and my entire body just felt so _tired_. It felt like all of my energy had been drained and suddenly, I had to struggle to stay awake. And even though all I could see behind my eyelids was my very recent near-death experience, I quickly fell into a fitful sleep.

---

I didn't sleep for very long. It felt like it had only been a couple minutes when a pair of extremely warm hands shook me awake and I bolted up, relieved to be out of my nightmares of long pointed teeth that were dripping with venom. "It's just me," Seth said, sitting down next to me. It wasn't until I was back in his arms, the only place I felt completely safe now, that I took in my surroundings. The shades were drawn on the small windows in the room but I could see just enough fading light to know that the sun was setting behind the off-white curtains. Sam was sitting in the chair next to the couch, his head in his hands and what looked like the weight of the world on his shoulders. Jared and Paul, who I was beginning to think were his own personal lackeys, were standing behind him. They both had their arms crossed across their chests and while Paul was clearly scowling at me, Jared looked deep in thought. Colin and Brady were leaning on both of the armrests for the couch while Jacob, Embry and Quil sat against the far wall and Leah leaned against the doorway that led into the kitchen.

"Did you catch him?" I asked, although I could already tell from the bleak expressions on their faces that they hadn't.

"No," Sam said. He turned to look at me and asked, "Liz, did they mention anyone else? Say anything about any other vampires?"

"I don't know," I said. "Maybe? I couldn't really understand them." I was having a hard time concentrating on my memory; I was so distracted by the puzzled, almost desperate looks on their faces. "Wait a minute, are you saying that there were more vampires with them?" I suddenly felt like hurling again.

Seth nodded. "There were at least six of them. Their scents were all over the Cullen house."

"So they're friends of the Cullens," I said, hoping that it was just that simple. "They'll just realize that they're not here and move on."

My heart sank as Sam shook his head. "I don't think they were friends. They had completely ransacked the place."

"So what does that mean? Will they be coming back?" I asked. The mere thought of an entire entourage of vampires roaming around Forks scared me so much that I wondered if I could convince Emma to move to La Push.

"It means that Leah is going to be sleeping at your house tonight," Sam said. I looked back at her in the doorway and noticed the black bag at her feet for the first time. "And we're going to be keeping a tight perimeter around your house for a while, in case the long-haired one tries to find you."

"What if the rest of them come with him?" I asked.

Paul snorted. "We can handle them."

"And what if they are a part of that Italian guard? What if they only come back with reinforcements?" I asked, thinking only of Seth. What if something happened to him? As ridiculous as it sounded, I really didn't think I would be able to make it through the next year and a half in this rain-soaked hell without him.

Jacob spoke up for the first time then, seeming to continue some kind of argument that had started before they came to tell me the news. "This is why we should contact the Cullens! They could help us fight these bloodsuckers, just like last time."

"No," Sam said, his voice taking on that strange, commanding tone again. Even I would have a hard time going against what he said when he spoke in that voice.

"They can help us, Sam!"

"They won't care," he said, suddenly sounding exhausted.

"Of course they'll care," Jacob said. "People are being murdered! _Bella_ will care!"

"Bella is not Bella anymore," Paul said angrily. "Or did you forget that?"

Jacob jumped up from his spot against the wall, his gigantic hands clenching into fists as he glared at Paul. Sam was able to stop the fight before it even started by simply raising his hand and saying, "Stop it. Right now."

"It might actually be a good idea," Jared said. Jacob, Sam, and Paul all looked at him in surprise. "Look, I doubt they'll want to help us but at least they'll be able to give us information on them. That would help immensely if they decide to come back."

Sam thought it over for what felt like hours while a tense silence fell over the room. Finally, he asked, "Do you even know where the Cullens are?"

Jacob nodded. "Alaska. I, uh... I've gotten a couple of blank postcards from someplace called Denali."

Sam scowled at that but didn't comment. Instead, he said, "You go alone. And if you can't find them within a week, then you come home, okay?"

Jacob nodded once before taking off. It was slightly bizarre, knowing that he was going to run straight out the front door to Alaska.

Sam sighed heavily and then looked at Seth. "You should probably get her home soon. Emma will start to worry about her."

Seth nodded and then pulled me to my feet. "Come on, Liz. We should probably get you home now." I followed him out of the house as he chattered on in a cheerful manner that I could tell was supposed to make me feel better. "Don't worry about anything, okay? We'll make sure you and Emma stay perfectly safe. And don't get too weirded out if you see us out there, okay?"

I nodded. I didn't think I would be too freaked out by the wolves after what I had just experienced. In fact, I would much prefer the giant dogs hang outside my house then the pale Italians. I just hoped that Seth wouldn't be one of the ones setting up a perimeter in case the bloodsucking guard came to find me and see, once and for all, if it was the Cullens who told me about their secret world.

* * *

[i] Hello

[ii] Must you always play with your food, Felix? Hurry up. Jane is waiting for us.

[iii] She knows what we are.

[iv] Don't be ridiculous

[v] What the -

[vi] That's impossible.

[vii] I thought Caius disposed of all of them

[viii] They weren't even supposed to inhabit North America,

[ix] This will be fun


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I, unfortunately, own nothing.

**A/N:** It didn't take me four months to write this one, but I hope you all like it just as much! :) Thank you to everyone that's reviewed and a huuuuge thank you goes out to Ledybug for betaing!

**Chapter 13**

To say that Emma was pissed when I got home would have been an understatement. Whoever had brought Sophie back had apparently thought it would be alright to just leave her in the backyard. It was a good thing Emma was on her way home then or else she wouldn't have seen Sophie wandering around the neighborhood and who knows what would have happened then. I didn't like the dog by any means but I didn't want to even think about what would have happened if Emma hadn't found her. Besides, I felt like the mutt and I had some kind of weird connection now, we had both faced those strange Italian vampires and managed to survive.

Maybe the fact that I had been so frazzled when I left that I hadn't left her a note set her off, and finding the dog in the middle of the street only added to it, but seeing me pull up with the Clearwaters only seemed to piss her off more. It was a strange thought, knowing that Emma had been sitting at home for hours now, worrying about me. For once, her worry hadn't been unfounded, although I hoped she never had the chance to know that. She kept it all in, probably not wanting to make things awkward for her friend, but I could tell from the look on her face that I was definitely going to hear about it later.

She wasn't the only one upset with me. Lydia had called numerous times while I was out, getting more annoyed with every message she left. I managed to slip away while Sue helped Emma prepare dinner so I could call her, hoping her wrath had diminished at least a little bit. Unfortunately, it hadn't. "What happened to you this afternoon?" she asked as soon she picked up the phone, leading me to believe she was either psychic or had caller ID. "We waited for almost an hour until Jenny Hogan told us that she saw you get on the bus!"

"I know," I said, feeling a little ashamed of myself. I made my way to my room, glad that I had decided to use the cordless for this conversation. This was definitely not something I wanted Emma to hear. She couldn't know how upset and confused I felt earlier, especially since it all revolved around Seth. I could just see her now, trying to assert herself as the only parental figure in my life by attempting to limit the amount of time I spent with him. It went against everything I had ever thought about myself, but I absolutely _needed_ Seth in my life. It was almost like some kind of backwards imprinting. It had taken some time but I could feel it, the part of me that was inexplicably and permanently tied to him. It might not have been as strong as gravity, not yet anyways, but every nerve ending in my body was completely aware of him, even as he followed me into my bedroom and sat down beside me on the bed. "I just needed to think."

"What? You can't think around us?" she asked.

"No, I can," I said. "I just had to be alone to sort some things out."

"Well, you should have told us that!"

"I know," I added. I could feel my throat closing up, which was strange. I usually wasn't so emotional, although I guess my near death experience was a good excuse for it. I'm sure anyone would have been a tad emotional if a vampire had tried to eat them. Seth noticed and put his arm around me. "I'm sorry. Chase wasn't too mad, was he?"

"No, he said…" she trailed off. Her whole demeanor changed; she sounded upset and unsure of herself instead of pissed off. "I wasn't pushing myself on you, was I? I just thought you'd want Seth to meet your friends."

"I do," I replied, suddenly feeling guilty. If I wanted things to be normal, or at least appear that way for my friends, I couldn't hide Seth away from them. Even though I selfishly wanted to keep him all to myself, I would have to properly introduce him to my friends.

"Good," she said, sounding like her normal happy self again. "We can even go see that stupid zombie movie if you want."

"Oh wow, really?" I smiled, despite the fact that I could still feel my eyes watering. Maybe I was going to have that nervous breakdown after all. "I thought you were above zombies." Seth shot me a strange look and I had to stifle my laughter.

"Well, you seemed really set on it for some reason," she laughed.

"Okay," I said. The tears were coming faster now and I knew I had to get off the phone quickly. "I've got to go but I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"

"Alright," she said. "But could you please see if he could bring along one friend?"

I laughed. "Bye Lydia." I hung up the phone and frantically tried to wipe the tears off my face.

"What's wrong?" Seth asked.

"Nothing," I said, feeling a bush spreading up my neck. I hated crying in front of people and it was even worse in front of Seth. I didn't want him to think I was weak or something. In fact, this would be the second time I cried in front of him today. How pathetic could I get? Besides, there was nothing more unattractive than someone who had just had a good crying session. I definitely wasn't comfortable enough in my relationship with Seth to let him see me with red, swollen eyes and a bunch of snot streaming down my face. I buried my face into his warm chest, which unfortunately was clothed this time, and tried to calm myself down. "I'm fine."

"Oh yes, I can see that," he said.

"It's all just catching up to me, you know," I said, trying to explain.

"I get it," he said, wrapping his arms around me. We sat there like that for a long time, until Emma appeared in the doorway.

She looked more than a little annoyed at first, probably by our proximity on the bed. I could tell that this wasn't helping my case any, but her face softened when she took in my tear soaked cheeks. "What's wrong?" she asked with her voice full of concern.

"It's nothing," I said. She raised an eyebrow at me and I held in a sigh of annoyance, knowing that would only make her angry again. But it was really starting to get on my nerves, the way she wanted to know everything about my life. I had never had to deal with anything like this before, the only things I had ever told my father were the things that I chose to tell him. She didn't believe me for one second though, I could see it all over her face, and this time I did sigh in exasperation. "I got into a fight with one of my friends," I skirted, trying to give her at least a little bit of the truth because I obviously couldn't tell her the real reason I was upset.

She didn't look completely convinced but she accepted my answer all the same. "Dinner's ready," she said, before walking back downstairs to the kitchen.

I got up to follow her but Seth stopped me. He was still sitting on the bed and he pulled me in between his legs, wiped the tears off my cheeks and forced me to look into his eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

I could tell he wasn't just talking about the little episode I'd just had. "I'm fine, Seth. Don't worry." He stared at me, trying to figure out if I was lying or not. It was comical, really, I was standing and yet I was still only a few inches taller than him. I reached out and put my hand on his face. "Really, Seth. I'm okay." Of course that was only because he was here with me but there was no way I could tell him that.

He nodded. "I just… I can't stop thinking about what would have happened if we hadn't gotten there so quickly."

"But you did, and nothing happened," I said, trying to reassure him. I didn't want to think about what would have happened if the pack had gotten there just a couple of minutes later.

"I know." He looked me straight in the eye and said, "And nothing will, either. I'm not going to let it. You will be safe." He was so determined and I felt that strange, fluttering feeling in my stomach. I really shouldn't have been so hard on myself for falling for this boy, he made it entirely too easy. I leaned in and kissed him, moving my lips slowly over his. He responded quickly, moving his hand to the back of my head and holding it in place. His kiss had an almost desperate edge to it, as if he was putting all of the anxiety and fear of the day into it. I was starting to get light-headed, the way I always felt whenever Seth kissed me, and I realized that I should have done this sooner. Kissing Seth was the only surefire way to make myself feel better. I was responding eagerly to him, the way I always did with Seth, pressing myself up against him and putting my arms around his neck. He whispered my name and I kissed him harder, seeming to lose myself in him.

I could have happily stayed like that for the rest of the night, but I vaguely heard Emma shout, "Liz! Seth! Come on!"

I pulled away from him, not even trying to hide the disappointment on my face, and said, "Let's go, I don't want her to catch us again." He smiled and followed me downstairs.

Dinner was extremely awkward. While Emma's rage might have diminished at the sight of my tears, she wasn't stupid. She knew I wasn't telling her something and furthermore, she knew exactly what had taken us so long to get downstairs. I could tell that she wasn't happy with me and I was dreading the moment everyone left. I might just get punished for the first time in my life. The Clearwaters didn't help much, either. Sue was quite possibly the worst actress ever. Her excuse for needing Leah to stay with us for the night was flimsy and I'm pretty sure Emma could see right through it, even though she accepted. Leah didn't exactly play the part either. She looked like she would have rather spent the night anywhere else. I felt the same. I liked Leah but she intimidated me, and I was pretty sure she didn't like me, if she had even paid enough attention to form an opinion of me at all. In fact, Seth was the only one who seemed pleased by our situation. I couldn't help but wonder if he was one of the wolves that would be hanging around outside of my house, and if so, if there was anything I could to do to make him come in. As much as I appreciated his determination to keep me safe, I didn't want him to foolishly put himself in any danger.

Sue left quickly after dinner, wanting to get home to "meet the exterminator." Seth left with her, since according to her, he was going to stay with Colin while they got the termites out of their house. He pulled me into a tight hug before he left. "Don't worry about anything, Liz. I'll be right outside tonight," he whispered, confirming my fears.

"Seth," I said, wanting to tell him to stay home and let everyone else handle it, but he left before I could say anything more. I frowned as I watched him go, not to his mother's car, but to the forest that surrounded the town of Forks, shedding his clothes as he went. I went back to the kitchen, my stomach twisted in knots as I worried about the pack and the possibility of them finding that long-haired vampire.

I found Leah and Emma washing the dishes together when I reached the kitchen. Emma smiled when she noticed I was back and turned to Leah, "Would you mind letting Liz take over here, Leah? I need to speak to her about this afternoon."

Leah nodded before turning and walking towards the living room. "Good luck," she whispered as she passed me.

I would definitely need it. I took over Leah's duties of drying the cleaned dishes, trying to discreetly watch Emma was she would certainly give me some kind of punishment. She took me by surprise when she asked, "Which friend were you fighting with?"

"Lydia," I said, looking at her in confusion.

"Lydia Stratford?"

"Yeah," I answered, wondering how she knew Lydia.

"Her grandmother spent a good amount of time on my floor last year before she passed away," she explained. "Lydia was there a lot. She was a sweet girl." Then she got a confused look on her face, as if she couldn't imagine why anyone would fight with Lydia. "What were you fighting about?"

I frowned when I realized she was going to try to bond with me before she punished me. It's not that I didn't want to get to know Emma, but if she turned some music on and started dancing around the kitchen, I was so out of there, severe grounding or not. "It's stupid," I said. She raised an eyebrow and I focused my attention on drying the plate she had just handed me. I scrambled to figure out what exactly I could say to her that at least resembled the truth because I obviously couldn't tell her that I was determined to keep Lydia away from Seth's strange supernatural world. "She wants to meet Seth," I said, deciding to keep to as much of the truth as I could. "Well, all my friends want to, so we made plans to go to the movies in Port Angeles but then she started insisting that I get Seth to set her up with one of her friends. And she wouldn't shut up about it so I decided to just take the bus home."

"And she didn't like that?" she asked curiously.

"Well, I kind of didn't tell her," I said sheepishly.

She sighed and I knew the lecture was coming. "I know things were hard in Boston, Liz, but I really want you to see that things are different here in Forks. There are people here that care about you, perhaps more deeply than you realize, and you can't just take off without letting them know where you're going. Now, I understand that you were upset this afternoon, although I think you might have been overreacting just a little, and that you probably wanted to see Seth because of it, but you really have to leave a note next time."

I smiled; it was strangely comforting how well Emma seemed to know me after only a few weeks. I felt bad for lying to her and wished I could let her in on what was really going on. Instead, I smiled ruefully and said, "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just not used to leaving them. I'll do it next time."

She looked sad. "I wish I had known things had gotten that bad in Boston."

I stopped her before she went any further, not wanting to think about my father. Things hadn't been that bad, and I didn't want to hear her insult him when we were getting along so well. Besides, there was nothing she could have done to make things better, God knows I had tried everything. "So how long will I be grounded for?" I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

She laughed. "I'm not going to ground you, Liz. Just promise me you'll leave a note the next time you go out. I worry about you, you know."

"I promise," I said, smiling at her in surprise. "I know you worry about me but you really don't have to."

"Of course I do," she continued, looking at me in a way that made me feel slightly uncomfortable. Then she turned back to the sink full of soapy dishes. "Just tell me one thing. How exactly did Sophie get out?"

I shrugged, quickly coming up with another lie. "Maybe I didn't close the back door all the way when I brought her out before."

"Please be more careful next time," she said. I nodded. While I could have lived without the dog, I knew Emma would be absolutely devastated if anything happened to her. We finished the dishes soon after that as I told Emma about the other kids I had befriended at school. It was strange how she seemed to either know them or their parents, but I guess that was just one of the hazards of living in a small town.

Once I had finished helping her, I decided to go to bed. I was strangely exhausted considering the nap I had taken earlier, and I was ready for the day to end.

However, when I got to my room, ready to collapse into my bed, I found Leah sitting on it. "Hey," she said, smiling at me as I walked in the room. I was a little confused by this, maybe I had passed out in the living room and was already dreaming. "Did you get into a lot of trouble?"

I shook my head. "Surprisingly, no," I said. "She just wanted to lecture me on the finer points of leaving a note when I go out."

"Yeah," she said, still smiling at me. "My mom's always been big on that, too. I can't count the number of times Seth's been grounded for that."

The mention of Seth made my stomach drop and I walked over to my window. I couldn't see much of anything, it was so dark that I could barely make out the trees but I knew the wolves were out there. "Seth's out there with them, isn't he?"

"I think so," she answered, the smile falling off her face as she was reminded of the danger her brother was putting himself into.

I grimaced as I looked over at her. "Isn't there any way you could stop him?"

She actually laughed at that. "No. I don't even think Sam could stop him now."

"Why?" I asked curiously. I thought Seth had to listen to Sam when he put down an injunction. It was the reason why he was normally forced out of the action.

Leah pursed her lips. "How much did he tell you about imprinting?"

I turned back to the window, not wanting to mention that most of what Seth told me involved her. "Just that it was like love at first sight… except that there was no free will involved."

"Yeah, well, it's a lot more complicated than that." I could tell that she didn't like talking about it, but she continued, "Their whole life pretty much depends on their imprint. If something were to happen to you, my brother would never survive it. The pain of losing an imprint is the worst kind of pain you could ever imagine. Most wolves that have lost theirs would rather die than deal with it. Seth will do anything to keep you safe, even if it goes against an injunction from Sam."

I kept staring out the window, not wanting Leah to see the bewildered expression on my face. When Seth had told me about imprinting, it had seemed kind of romantic, despite the fact that it hadn't allowed him to choose to love me. But this, this was incredibly overwhelming. According to Leah, Seth didn't just care about me, I was his entire world. In a way, I was responsible for whether he lived or died. It scared the crap out of me.

When I didn't answer, Leah sighed. "Look, I didn't tell you this to freak you out. Actually, Seth didn't want you to know about this because he thought you'd wig out like last time and stop talking to him again. But you have to know, Liz. You have to keep yourself safe so nothing happens to my brother." I nodded then, a little surprised by the fierce tone to her voice. It was clear that she cared a lot about Seth. She stood up and said, "Well, I'm going to go to bed. Good night." Then she left my room and headed in the opposite direction of the guest room, towards the staircase. I hoped that Emma was at least in her bedroom so she wouldn't notice our guest taking off into the forest. While I was happy that I was able to talk to her tonight without anyone freaking out, I didn't think I would be able to handle anymore bonding for the night.

I stood at the window for a long time after that, trying to catch a glimpse of Seth so I would at least know that he was okay out there. The wolves were good at staying concealed as they circled the house, though, if they were even still out there. I couldn't stop thinking about what Leah had said. I didn't know if it was true or if she was just trying to scare me into staying out of the pack's way as they tried to hunt down the long-haired vampire, but it frightened me. Even though I had strong feelings for Seth, ones that seemed to grow every single time I saw him, they were nowhere near that strong.

It was all becoming so real now, I could see our entire future together. I would stay here in Forks for him, because there's no way he could leave the pack, his family, behind, especially while he was still phasing. And this was where I would spend the rest of my life. It was a scary feeling, having my life plotted out like that in a way that I would have never expected. I didn't believe in happy endings but I knew that staying here with Seth was as close to one as I would ever get. I didn't know if I wanted it. I had always envisioned my life as so much more than an early marriage in a small town. I wanted to go to college, preferably back east, and then go on to medical school. I wanted to travel, see the world, before I settled down and I didn't think any of that would be possible in the future I had been forced into when Seth imprinted on me.

I didn't want to think about it anymore. It was too much and it was starting to freak me out. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed, hoping desperately that I wouldn't have any more dreams about the monsters I had encountered that afternoon.

-----

My hopes had been in vain. The nightmares I had were awful. I was back on that deserted road, surrounded by the forest. I knew what was coming but I couldn't move; it felt like my feet were cemented in place. Finally, after waiting for what felt like hours, the two vampires emerged from the dense vegetation. They seemed different somehow, a little bit bigger and more imposing, as if my subconscious was trying to get the full horrific effect. Their eyes were a bright crimson instead of black and their teeth seemed whiter. It was clear that this was not just a replaying of my memories but so much worse.

They didn't talk this time, instead they just advanced on me. My feet finally came unstuck and I started backing up into the trees. The weird thing was that they followed me a slow pace, as if they were actually going to let me get away. I didn't even stop to think about it, I just took off running. I didn't know where I was going but it didn't matter, I just knew that I had to get away from them before I became dinner.

I ran for a long time, until my legs were burning from the effort. My body was sore and tired but I could still hear them behind me and my adrenaline kept me going. I was tripping over rocks and tree roots, always quickly scrambling to my feet before they could reach me. Low-hanging branches kept scratching my face and I knew that the blood they were drawing was not helping matters. I was wracking my brain, trying to figure out how I could get away from them, when my foot got caught on something and I faceplanted right on the edge of a large clearing. I tried to get up but there was an intense pain shooting up my leg. They were standing over me in an instant, smiling at me in a way that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The big one, Felix, seemed to enjoy this. "Hello, Liz," he said, smiling wider.

The fact that he knew my name sent chills down my spine. I wanted to ask him how he knew me, if he'd been following me around or something, but something else caught their attention. They turned away from me and stared at a point in the trees across the clearing. I felt the relief wash over me. Somehow I knew that it was the wolves. It was weird, though, how the vampires didn't seem bewildered by them like last time. It was almost as if they had been expecting the pack to show up. I didn't have time to think about this, though, because they broke through the trees and I noticed that there was a fourth wolf, one that hadn't been there that afternoon. I knew from the second I saw the sandy fur that it was Seth and all the relief I had vanished. What was he doing here? I was really starting to get annoyed with that fact that he kept putting himself in danger just so he could "keep me safe." This macho bullshit was really going to have to end.

The vampires walked to the middle of the clearing and bared their teeth, clearly threatening the wolves. They responded in kind, and tried to separate them. The russet and chocolate brown wolves took Felix while Seth and the grey wolf turned to the long-haired one. But the vampires didn't fall for it this time; they stayed together and didn't turn their backs on the wolves. They weren't going to be taken by surprise. The russet one lunged first and then they were moving too quickly, I could barely see what was happening because it was all a blur. I tried to keep my eyes trained on the tan wolf but it was hard to make him out through all the movement. The air was full of the sound of growls, snapping teeth and yelping, and I was starting to get really frustrated, not being able to tell who was winning.

All of a sudden, the fighting stopped. Felix was missing both hands and the long-haired vampires left arm was torn off, although they definitely looked like they could still fight. The wolves were sniffing the air and Seth let out a small whine. Something was wrong. And then more vampires stepped out of the trees, there were at least ten of them. A couple were large like Felix while others just looked like normal, albeit very attractive and pale-skinned, people. One stood out, though. She looked like she was twelve but there was something absolutely horrifying in the way she smirked at the wolves. Then the russet one was on the ground, howling in pain. The other wolves growled as they looked around, trying to figure out where this attack was coming from. Seth turned to the child vampire, seeming to think that it was coming from her, and lunged at her. Suddenly he was on the ground, his howls filling the air. I couldn't take more than a few seconds of seeing him like that before it became too much.

"Stop it!" I yelled from my place on the ground. "Please, stop it!"

She turned her smile on me and it felt like there was a fire in my veins that was burning through every part of my body. It was excruciating and it was _everywhere_. I heard myself screaming in pain, although I hadn't even realized that I had opened my mouth. I found myself hoping that they would kill me, just so the pain would end.

I started shaking, and it took me a few seconds to realize that someone was actually shaking me. I opened my eyes and was relieved to see that I was awake, back in my bedroom at Emma's, and that Emma was the one shaking me. "Liz, are you alright?" she asked, panicked.

What a stupid question. I was sweating profusely, scared out of my mind, and had just been screaming in pain. Yeah, I was just fucking peachy. But I didn't want to tell her about my dream so instead I said, "I'm fine. It was just a dream."

"Some dream," she said, eyeing me warily. She probably thought I was losing my mind. "I'm surprised you didn't wake Leah."

"She must be a deep sleeper," I said, wishing Emma would just go back to bed. I needed to see Seth.

"Maybe I should go check on her," she said thoughtfully, heading for my bedroom door.

"No!" I said, jumping out of bed. I knew she wouldn't find Leah in the guest room and I didn't think I could explain the empty bed. "Let me do it. I have to ask her something, anyways."

She looked at me and I almost thought she suspected something, but then she just shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," she said, walking out into the hallway. "Good night."

"Night," I said, getting out of bed. I watched from my doorway as she entered her bedroom and closed the door. I waited a few minutes to make sure she wasn't going to come back out, and then I crept downstairs. It didn't matter that I was in a pair of baggy, unflattering red flannel pajamas, or that I was covered in sweat and my hair was all over the place, I just had to make sure that Seth was safe.

I stood out on the back deck, not sure what to do. Was he even near the house or was I supposed to leave a message with another wolf? I didn't have to wait long, though. Seth walked out from the trees, wearing only a pair of jean cut-offs. "Liz, what's going on?" he asked in confusion. "Embry said he heard screaming." I didn't even bother saying anything, I just ran across the yard and threw my arms around him. I was trying not to freak out but my breath was coming quick and my eyes were watering. "Hey, it's okay," he said, slowly rubbing my back.

As I stood there in his arms, I realized that all I had worried about earlier didn't matter. I would give up everything for this boy because there was no way I could live without him. The same string that tied him to me would keep me here, like some kind of leash. And if what Leah had said was true, if his whole happiness depended on me, then there was no way I could hurt him that badly by leaving to follow my dreams. They would have to wait until Seth had stopped phasing and could leave the Olympic Peninsula. I had thought it had been romantic, the whole imprinting thing. My feelings for Seth had become so intense so quickly that I had been relieved to know that there was a reason for it. I had reveled in the fact that we would always be connected somehow. Now I could see that it would also be a burden. I would have to sacrifice certain things for it but I knew I could handle it as long as Seth was there. I was becoming the girl that I didn't want to be, but I was actually fine with it for once. I sighed and said, "I had this awful dream."

"It's okay," he said, pulling me closer. "It was just a dream. Everything's alright."

I smiled despite the panic and said, "Seth, please come inside."

"I'm sorry, Liz," he said. "But you know I can't. I have to –"

"Please," I said, pulling back so I could look him in the eyes. "I keep having these horrible nightmares where you're being pulled apart by vampires –"

He interrupted me. "They're just dreams, Liz. They're not real."

"That doesn't matter!" I said. "I won't be able to sleep unless you're there." He looked torn and although I knew I wasn't playing fair, I still did it. He could keep going on about how he was trying to protect me but the only time I ever actually felt safe was when he was with me. And this way I would know he was okay, too. I stood up on my toes and pulled his face down to mine. "Please," I whispered as I pressed my lips against his. He sighed and I almost thought he was going to refuse me, but then I felt him give in to the kiss. He pulled away and said, "Just for tonight." I held in a smile, knowing that I would try to convince him, and hopefully succeed, every night he was out there. I grabbed his hand and led him upstairs, trying to stay quiet so Emma wouldn't catch us.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Twilight or any of its characters.

***!PLEASE READ THIS!*:** I realize these things are annoying and most people skip them but this needs to be said. I started this story BEFORE Breaking Dawn came out and it went off what I believed would happen in it. However, my theories were not correct (because really, who would have predicted what happened in that book?) and so I have tried to streamline in as much of Breaking Dawn as I could without changing the plot of the story drastically. But, like most people, there were a couple things in Breaking Dawn that I was pretty unsatisfied with so I've decided to change them around. So that would make this a POST-ECLIPSE AU story with certain elements of Breaking Dawn thrown in. I hope that clears up any confusion!

**Chapter 14**

Sleeping in Seth's arms was becoming one of my favorite things. Not only did I feel completely safe, but I was finally able to sleep without having nightmares. And it was so _warm_ there. I woke up the first morning and thought I was having heat stroke. I had to start sleeping in tank tops and small shorts, although Seth never complained. Because it hadn't just been for one night, it continued on for the rest of the week. It got to the point where he didn't even try to resist my begging; instead, he waited for me in the backyard so I could let him in after Emma had gone to bed. I didn't think she'd approve, even though we did little more than sleep. There were a couple of close calls, though, and I started pushing the light blue armchair in front of the door. Luckily, she hadn't tried to come in since then because I didn't feel like explaining why I had barricaded my bedroom door shut.

Although Seth didn't complain about our sleeping arrangements, it took me a while to convince him to go to Port Angeles. He had outright refused to go at first, claiming it was too dangerous. The wolves hadn't found any traces of the Italian vampires but they were still on high alert, especially since they lost contact with Jacob only two days after he left. They were patrolling the area nonstop and needed him to help out. I was fine with that, almost relieved actually, and started thinking of believable excuses for Lydia, but then he stated that he wouldn't allow me to go either. That set something off inside me. I was giving up a lot for this boy, I realized it that first night he slept in my bed, but I sure as shit wasn't going to allow him to tell me what to do. I may be in love with him but I was capable of making my own decisions. I told him that I would be going to Port Angeles with my friends regardless of if he went or not. He didn't like that, but it didn't matter. I was determined to go and the only way he could stop me was by tying me up and locking me in a closet. I'm sure the thought crossed his mind but he didn't dare try it after seeing the way I reacted to his simply telling me I couldn't go somewhere. Suddenly, he decided the pack could do without him on Friday night, that it would be easier to keep me safe by going into Port Angeles with me. He wasn't too happy about it, though, as was evidenced by the way he groaned when he woke up on Friday morning.

"Hey, at least it's Friday," I said, wiping the sweat off my forehead. Sleeping with Seth was like sleeping in a sauna, even with barely any clothes on and the windows open.

He frowned as he turned to face me. "Are you sure you want to go into Port Angeles tonight?"

I smiled and asked, "Are you going to tie me up and hold me hostage if I say yes?"

"I'm thinking about it," he said as he pushed my damp hair out of my face. He laughed at my scowl. "I'm just joking."

"You better be." I could handle all my sacrifices for him but I wasn't sure if he would be worth them if he was going to treat me like a child.

"Calm down, Liz," he said, leaning in to kiss me.

I pulled away slightly as his lips caught the corner of my mouth. He looked at me in confusion and I explained, "I have morning breath."

"So do I," he laughed. "It doesn't matter." But it did matter. I had spent the past few nights sleeping next to this gorgeous boy who somehow managed to look like some kind of muscular god in the morning. He slept in only a pair of old sweatpants that had been turned into shorts and his hair was always tousled just right when he woke up. Even his breath didn't seem that bad. I, on the other hand, was a huge mess in the morning. I was always covered in sweat and my hair seemed to defy gravity as it stood up in all directions. He must have read the insecurity in my eyes because he cradled my face in his hands and asked, "What's wrong, beautiful?"

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "And don't call me that."

"Why not?"

"It's not nice to lie," I frowned.

"You don't think you're beautiful?" he asked, seeming genuinely confused.

"Oh come on, Seth," I said, sitting up. "Look at me! I don't –"

"You're right," he interrupted, looking me up and down. It was then that I realized the white tank top I was wearing was practically soaked through. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. He smiled unapologetically and grabbed my waist, rubbing his thumb over the thin material of my shirt. "Look at you. Do you need me to prove just how beautiful I think you are?"

I bit my lip and looked outside, watching the way the sunlight reflected off the ice covered tree outside my window. I was really starting to lose all of my self control around Seth. I realized that he was just being a normal teenage boy, and despite all of his talk, neither of us was ready for _that_, or at least I didn't think we were. But still, it was getting a lot harder to not throw myself at him everything he touched me.

I was trying to contain my hormones when there was a soft knock at the door. "Liz?" Emma asked. "Are you up yet?"

I felt my muscles tense up as I prayed she wouldn't try to open the door. "Yeah," I yelled. "I'll be downstairs in a second!"

"Alright," she called through the door. "But hurry up! You're going to miss your bus!"

"Okay!" Then I turned to Seth and whispered, "You've got to go."

He nodded, all traces of the dirty joking boy gone from his face. "Okay," he said. "I'll see you this afternoon."

"Remember, you have to be here at four-thirty," I said. "And please, wear a shirt."

He smiled at that, the beautiful joyful smile that I loved so much, and kissed me on the forehead. "Alright, I'll be here, fully-clothed and everything." Then he turned to my open window, lifted the screen, and jumped out. It had scared the hell out of me when he did that the first morning. I knew I had upset him by asking him to forgo his patrolling to stay with me, not that spending time with me was awful but because he had this annoying, macho desire to protect me, but I didn't think he had wanted to throw himself out a window over it. But it turns out it was pretty easy for him to jump to the tree branch below my window. I watched as he quickly climbed out of the tree and disappeared into the woods. Then I closed the window screen, got dressed quickly, and then headed downstairs.

"Good morning," Emma smiled as I walked into the kitchen.

I smiled back as I grabbed a packet of Pop Tarts from the cupboard. "Morning."

She frowned as she looked me over, a suspicious look on her face. "Something's up with you."

I looked at her in alarm and asked, "What do you mean?" Had she heard Seth and I? She couldn't have, I mean, I'm sure she would have been a little more upset than this, but what else could she mean?

"You actually seem… happy this morning," she said, still looking at me suspiciously. "In fact, you've been almost cheerful every morning this week. Are you sick?"

I laughed, feeling incredibly relieved that she was just joking around. "I'm fine. I've just… been in a good mood."

"Uh-huh," she said skeptically. She came up behind me and put her hand on my forehead, checking my temperature. "Hmm, you don't feel warm but maybe I should take you to see one of the doctors at the hospital anyways."

"Ha-ha," I said, ducking out from under her arm. "I never realized you were such a comedian."

She laughed at that and then turned to the clock. "You should go if you want to catch the bus."

"Right," I said, pocketing my packaged breakfast and shouldering my backpack. "Um, I'm going out tonight with Seth and my friends so I won't be home later."

"Alright," she said, clearly overjoyed with the fact that I was actually sharing things with her. "Well, I'm picking up another shift at the hospital tonight so I won't be here when you get home, but that doesn't mean –"

I interrupted her. "Right. No alcohol, drugs, wild parties, or unprotected sex. I got it." She frowned and pushed me out the door.

-----

I should have known that Lydia would be waiting for me at the bus stop outside of school. She had been so excited when I told her that Seth and I would be there on Friday that she wouldn't shut up about it. "Hey Lydia," I said as I got off the bus, trying not to show my exasperation with her.

"Hey," she smiled. "So… are you ready for tonight?"

"Of course," I said.

She noticed the annoyed expression on my face and frowned. "You're not going to ditch us at the last second, right?"

"What?! No, of course not," I said. What kind of person did she think I was?

"Good," she said, her bright smile back. We reached my Government class and she waved before continuing to her first class of the day.

The rest of the school day seemed to fly by after that. Lydia could barely contain her excitement and she seemed to get worse as the day went on. In fact, she was practically bouncing around the backseat of Chase's car on the way home.

"You know, Lyd," Chase said, smiling at her in the rear view mirror, "you're shaking the whole car."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I'm just excited. Liz, do you think he'll be able to bring some of his friends?"

"I don't know," I laughed. "They might be busy." The truth was that I hadn't even asked Seth to bring along a friend. I was afraid that he would be all for the idea since it would allow for more protection in Port Angeles. I didn't want to mix the lines between my normal friends and the pack. Lydia might want to date one of those "buff, hot guys from the rez" but I was pretty sure that would change the second she saw one of them change into a giant wolf.

"Busy doing what?" she asked.

"I have no idea, Lyd," I said. "I'm not their social director."

She made an annoyed noise as we pulled up in front of my house. "I'll see you guys later," I said, opening the car door. I was more than a little surprised when Lydia got out too. "What are you doing?"

She held up a large duffel bag. "I thought we could get ready together."

Chase smiled at me as he backed out of my driveway, leaving me with no choice. I sighed as I led her inside and up to my bedroom. She pulled her bag open and starting pulling out a ton of makeup and hair products. "Geez, Lydia. We're going to the movies, not the prom."

"So?" she asked as she pulled a glittery red shirt out of the bag. "That doesn't mean we can't look hot." She held the red shirt up to my chest and then she shook her head, muttering something to herself.

I looked at her in alarm. "What are you doing?" I asked for the second time in five minutes.

"Picking out your outfit," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why? I'm just going to wear this," I said, gesturing to the dark jeans and black hooded sweatshirt I had worn to school.

"No, you're not," she said, a definite firmness on her voice. She sighed at the stubborn expression on my face. "Come on, don't you want to look nice for your boyfriend?"

"Yeah, but –" I started to say before she interrupted me.

"So just let me do this." She held a white sundress with blue flowers splattered across it up to me and spun me around to look in the mirror. "Trust me, when I'm done, Seth won't be able to keep his hands off you."

I bit my lip and fingered the soft material of the dress. I wasn't sure if it would be such a good thing. I was having a hard enough time controlling myself around Seth as it was, I didn't need him making it worse. It would be more than a little embarrassing for everyone if I jumped him in the middle of the movie theater. But I couldn't deny that I liked the idea. "Will any of these clothes fit me?" I asked, giving in to her plan.

"I think so," she said, grinning triumphantly. "You're not much smaller than me. This might be a little too dressy, though. Maybe…" she trailed off and then went back to her bag and started frantically searching through it. A minute later, she pulled out a small jean miniskirt and a silky dark blue cami.

"Won't I be cold?" I asked stupidly, looking at the clothes in her hands.

She shot me a dirty look that plainly said, 'So what?' and started rifling through my closet. "Change into that," she instructed. "And don't wear any big granny underwear either!"

"What?!" I asked, completely bewildered by her request. What did my underwear have to do with anything?

"Just trust me, okay?"

"No one's going to see my underwear!" I practically shrieked.

"Sure they aren't, Liz," she said. She pulled a grey and blue striped zip-up hoodie out of my closet and shoved it into my hands. Then she looked at me and threatened, "Don't make me pick out your underwear too."

I gave her an angry look and muttered, "Stay out of my underwear drawer."

She laughed as I walked across the hallway to the bathroom. "I'll leave the rifling through that to Seth!"

I blanched as I closed the bathroom door. I'd left Seth alone in my room more than a few times in the past couple days. He couldn't have found it, right? I was just being paranoid, and besides, Lydia was only joking around. I'm sure he hadn't even thought to look for it.

By the time I was done changing, Lydia had a curling iron out and had managed to drag one of the chairs from the kitchen up into my room. Before I could even say anything, she pushed me into the chair and attacked my face with mascara wands, makeup brushes and shoved the curling iron into my hair. I felt as if I had been ambushed. It only took her a little over half an hour but I looked completely different. My normally wavy hair was in small ringlets and my face was made up, but in a way that looked completely natural. "There," she said, standing back to admire her work. "Aren't you glad you let me do this?"

I smiled at her in gratitude. "Thanks, Lydia!"

"No problem." She looked at her watch and said, "Shit! I only have forty-five minutes to get ready!" She grabbed her bag, stuffed all of her things inside it and then ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

I laughed and called out, "I'll be downstairs!" I tried to pass the time while Lydia was getting ready by feeding the dog and putting her outside, all while trying to keep her slobber off me. It didn't take that much time, though, and I found myself going restlessly from room to room, trying to find something to do. I didn't know if Lydia's excitement was contagious or if I was just eager to see Seth again, but I was suddenly wishing that the clock would move a lot faster.

Finally, after what had felt like forever, the doorbell rang and I raced to answer it. Sammy and Will were standing on the other side of the door. Sammy laughed when she saw me and said, "I see Lydia got to you."

I smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, she definitely did."

Lydia came down the stairs then and stared at Sammy in revulsion. "Oh God, Sammy," she said. "What are you wearing?"

Sammy frowned and looked down at her jeans and white sweatshirt. "What? We're going to the movies, not some night club. Besides, Will thinks I look nice, don't you, Will?" He smiled and nodded as he sat down on the couch.

"How reassuring," Lydia said, smiling to show that she was joking. Sammy rolled her eyes and sat down next to Will as he turned the television on and changed it to the basketball game.

I was about to sit down and watch it with them when the doorbell rang. Lydia beat me to it, though, and she threw it up to reveal Seth standing there, fully clothed in a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain white t-shirt that was actually clean. He was holding three white daisies in his hand and he smiled when he saw me. "Hey," he said, handing me the flowers.

Lydia stood there expectantly and I introduced them. "Seth, this is Lydia. Lydia, this is Seth."

"Nice to meet you," Seth said, shaking her hand.

"You too," she smiled. And then she turned to the door and actually stuck her head outside, as if she was expecting someone else to magically appear on my doorstep. When she came back inside, her smile was gone. "Did you come alone, Seth?"

"Uh, yeah," he said, giving me a look that clearly said that he thought she was crazy.

I pulled him into the kitchen on the pretense of putting the flowers in water before she could give him the third degree. "Sorry," I said, once we were out of earshot. "She really wants to get set up with one of your friends for some reason."

He smiled and said, "Well, you know, Colin and Brady are outside. I could go get one of them right now."

I made a face at that. "Aren't they, like, twelve?"

"Colin's thirteen and Brady just turned fourteen," he said, scowling at my joke.

"Still," I said. "I don't think she wants to date a middle schooler."

He looked over at the clock on the microwave. "Embry's supposed to be taking over for Colin soon. If you want to wait, I could call him –"

"No," I said firmly, standing between him and the phone.

"What's going on with you?" he asked, staring at me in concern. "Why don't you want me to call him?"

"Because I don't…" I trailed off, not wanting to finish my sentence. I didn't know if he would be offended by the fact that I didn't want my friend dating someone from the pack.

He understood though. "You don't want her to date a werewolf." He looked down at his hands, insecurity washing over his face. "It's not that bad, is it?"

"No, of course not," I said, grabbing his hand. "I mean, it's just that it can only end badly for her… unless someone imprints, and I don't know what the odds of that happening are."

He seemed appeased by my response. "Yeah, you're right," he said, pulling me into a hug. "You look very nice, by the way."

"Thanks," I muttered, feeling a blush spread across the back of my neck. "And thank you for the flowers."

He smiled sheepishly at me. "Yeah, I figured I'd go all out for our first official date."

My eyes widened. "Oh wow, you're right," I said. Our relationship had moved so quickly that we had completely skipped over the dating stage. It seemed like that awkwardly sweet 'getting-to-know-each-other' phase was just another thing that was sacrificed in the imprinting.

He smiled and leaned down to kiss my neck, but stopped when Lydia walked through the door. "Hey," she said, smirking at our position. "Chase is here. We should go if we're going to make the movie."

"Alright," I said.

I grabbed Seth's hand and led him out to the living room, where my friends had congregated. I introduced them, trying to avoid another awkward scene with Sammy, who had a hard time keeping a straight face. Seth ignored her laughter, although I noticed his cheeks getting slightly darker from the blush that came from the memory of his last encounter with Sammy. He noticed the basketball game and groaned, "Oh man, they're getting killed."

I expected Will to blush and mutter something under his breath. I was getting ready to warn Seth not to take it seriously, that Will just didn't do well around strangers, but he looked at Seth and said, "I know. Their defense is pitiful tonight." I looked at Will in shock. Who knew that basketball was the way to get him to open up? I was about to comment on the fact that the Sonics were always pitiful just to see if he would actually get angry, something I had yet to see, when Sammy linked her arm with mine and let me out the door.

"How old is Seth, anyways?" she asked as we walked towards her jeep.

"Fifteen," I said.

She snorted. "That's funny, Liz. How old is he really?"

"Yeah," Lydia chimed in. "Doesn't your aunt mind that you're dating an older guy?"

I looked at them both strangely, not understanding why they wouldn't believe me. Seth did look older but not by that much. "Really, he's fifteen. You can ask him yourself." They both looked at me as if they thought I was lying but decided to let it go since Seth and Will were following us out. "Where's Chase?" I asked.

Lydia frowned and pointed to his car, which was parked in front of the house. "He refuses to ride in the back of the jeep."

"Oh," I said, a little surprised that she would even ask that of him. "Are you riding with him?"

She sighed. "I have to, don't I? It would be rude to make him drive up by himself."

"Like it wasn't rude asking him to ride in the trunk?" Sammy laughed.

Lydia frowned. "That wasn't rude! I was trying to limit pollution by carpooling. It's rude of him to waste finite resources just because he's too proud to sit in the back of the jeep."

Sammy and I both cracked up at that. I was laughing so hard that I didn't even notice Seth coming up behind me. "What's so funny?" I just shook my head and climbed into the backseat of Sammy's car. Lydia scowled at me and walked towards the rusted Nissan. Seth watched her go and asked, "Who's that?"

"Chase," I said, trying to stifle my laughter. "He doesn't have any manners. Sorry." He smiled and shrugged his shoulders, jumping into the backseat with me.

The ride up to Port Angeles went better than I expected. I had thought it would be extremely awkward as we all tried to find a conversational topic that would include everyone, but Seth and Will spent the whole time talking about the abysmal start to the Sonics season. I tried to chime in a couple times, but they both took great offense to my insulting their team. Sammy found that quite amusing, and she and I spent the rest of the drive talking about a particularly hard essay for our government class that we had gotten back that morning. The ride that normally took an hour felt like only minutes and I was surprised when we pulled up in front of the movie theater.

Chase and Lydia weren't that far behind us. Lydia looked pretty annoyed but plastered a smile on her face as she joined us. "Are you sure you want to see this zombie movie? You know, the new Jennifer Anniston movie looks good."

I laughed. "I don't really care, Lyd. We can see whatever you want."

"No!" Chase said. "I can't speak for anyone else but I don't want to see another cheesy chick flick. You forced us to see that stupid Hilary Duff movie the last time we were here, remember?"

She hit Chase on the arm. "Why are you being so difficult tonight?"

"I'm not," he replied, smiling at her as he rubbed his arm. "I'd just rather see the earth get overrun by the undead than hear another actress bitch about how horrible men are."

"He does have a point," Sammy said. Lydia turned and glared at her, as if she thought Sammy was some kind of traitor. "What? It's true." She turned to Will and Seth and asked, "You guys don't want to see some lame romantic comedy, do you?"

Will shook his head while Seth stood there, looking like a deer caught in headlights. Lydia sighed in exasperation and said, "Fine." Then she turned to Chase and poked him hard in the chest. "When I have nightmares about zombies eating my brain tonight, I'm calling you."

Chase smirked. "I'll make sure I turn my phone off then."

"You know I'll just call your house," she threatened.

I turned Seth away from their bickering and dragged him over to the ticket window. "Do you want to see the other movie?"

"What?" he asked, looking at me in confusion. "No! Of course not. Why would you think that?"

I shrugged. "You didn't say anything when Sammy asked. I thought maybe you were into Jennifer Aniston or something."

He smiled and said, "I'm not really sure who that is but I just didn't want to upset your friend." He watched warily as she continued to punch Chase lightly on the shoulder as he antagonized her.

I couldn't help giggling at that. "What? Are you scared of her?"

"She's pretty violent," he pointed out.

I smirked. "I think you can take her."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, I'd rather it didn't come to that." We got our tickets, Seth insisted on paying for me despite my protests, and then he dragged me over to the concession stand.

I was amazed at how well the night was going. It almost seemed like Seth and I were just a normal, run-of-the-mill couple out with our friends. I should have known that it wasn't going to last. Still, I didn't think anything of it when I saw the familiar red Volkswagen pull up in front of the giant windows that made up the walls of the movie theater; I was too busy convincing Chase that Reece's Pieces were infinitely superior to peanut M&M's. But then I heard Lydia whistle lowly and I turned to see what had caught her attention. It felt like my heart had literally dropped into my stomach as I noticed Quil and Embry entering the movie theater lobby. They looked completely out of place in their jean cut-offs and tight black t-shirts.

"Oh no," Seth whispered, looking at me apologetically. Then he turned to his friends and smiled. "Hey guys. What's up?"

Lydia looked as if Christmas has come early as she turned to me and asked, "Are those his friends?"

I nodded, unable to keep the worry off my face as horrible scenarios of Italian vampires descending on the quiet town of Forks raced through my mind, even as Quil smiled and grabbed a handful of popcorn from the large bucket Seth was holding. "We need to talk to you," he said through the popcorn kernels he had stuffed in his mouth. Seth nodded and followed them over to a dark, uninhabited corner of the lobby by a malfunctioning claw machine.

Lydia couldn't contain her excitement anymore. "Who are they?" she asked, unable to tear her eyes away from the two pack members.

I tried to keep my anger hidden. I hadn't wanted her to even see any of the pack members, never mind acquaint her with them. "The taller one is Embry and the other is Quil."

"Wow," she said, looking them up and down. "They sure are doing something right in La Push."

Sammy laughed while Chase nodded in agreement. I rolled my eyes and decided to go see what was going on, hoping I could somehow make them leave quickly. I grabbed Seth's hand when I reached him and asked, "What's going on?"

Seth smiled at me, although it was not his normal carefree smile, and said, "It's nothing, Liz. I'm sorry but I need to go back to La Push –"

"Actually," Quil said, interrupting him. "She has to come too."

"Come where? What are you guys talking about?" I asked in confusion.

"Jacob's back," Embry said simply. It clicked then. Jacob hadn't changed back into his wolf form since he found the Cullens two days ago. It had made Sam really anxious, especially since he hadn't wanted to let Jacob go in the first place. He had feared the worst that Jacob had somehow gotten around the injunction and attacked the vampire family, forcing them to retaliate. It must have been a huge relief to have him back.

Even though I was happy that Jacob had returned, that didn't mean I was going to abandon my friends here in Port Angeles. "Jacob can wait," I said determinedly.

Quil shook his head. "He didn't come back alone."

Seth perked up at this. "The Cullens came back with him?" Embry nodded. "All of them?"

Quil shared a strange look with Embry and said, "Bella's staying at their place outside of town. Sam's trying to get them to take her back to Denali but…"

Seth's expression went from joyful to horrified. "Bella came back with them? Why?! Is she still hu–"

Quil cut him off. "We'll explain on the drive back to the rez."

I planted my feet firmly on the ground, refusing to move until they gave me an actually compelling reason. "Do they know who these Italian vampires are?"

"Yeah," Quil said.

I waited for him to explain but when he didn't, I tried to press for more information. "And?"

He sighed. "Jacob was right; they are some kind of super powered fang police. Edward seems to think they're going to get more vampires and come back, but first he needs to hear about what happened. We need to meet with them tonight."

"So? They're immortal, they can wait," I said stiffly before turning back to my friends.

I hadn't taken two steps before I felt a burning hand on my arm. "Liz, don't you understand?" Seth asked, his warm brown eyes pleading with me. "If these vampires come back, they could destroy Forks and everyone in it. The Cullens are the only ones who can help us come up with a way to fight them. But first they need to hear exactly what they said to you."

I tried not to look him in the eye, knowing I would give in the second I did. "But why can't they wait a couple hours?" I realize that I sounded like some kind of petulant child, but I didn't want to give up my one night of normalcy with Seth to chat with some vampires.

"Liz," Quil replied, looking more than a little annoyed with me. "It's been four days since you saw the bloodsuckers. It doesn't really take them that long to get to Italy and grab their friends. They could be on their way back to Forks now."

I frowned when I realized that I wasn't going to get my way. Quil looked like he would drag me, kicking and screaming, out of the movie theater if he had to. "What am I supposed to tell my friends?"

Seth must have noticed the sad look of defeat in my eyes because he was at my side instantly, putting his arm around my shoulders and pulling me into him. Quil simply shrugged. "I don't care." I glared at him as he continued, "Really, I don't. Tell them your aunt was attacked by flying monkeys. It doesn't matter. We have to go. Now." He turned to leave, shaking his head and muttering something about women under his breath as he went.

I glared at him, wishing I could somehow burn a hole in the back of his head for being such an ass. He really didn't understand, Lydia was going to flip when I told her that I was leaving. I turned to Seth, ready to tell him that his friends could shove it, when I noticed that he was watching me anxiously. "I'm so sorry, Liz. I can go talk to your friends, if you want." I couldn't help smiling at that. It was nice to know that he was willing to face Lydia's wrath just because I was too scared to.

I inhaled his salty pine scent, not caring if he noticed me doing this, and pulled away from him. "That's okay, Seth. I think I'd better do this myself." I turned back to the curious stares of my friends and felt the guilt wash over me. I tried to convince myself that I was doing this for their own good, although I'm sure Lydia would have rather died at the hand of a sadistic foreign vampire than be left in Port Angeles without even an introduction to Seth's friends.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** Twilight and its characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

**A/N:** I'd just like to remind everyone that this story is rated M, even though there hasn't been anything to warrant that _yet_, and it will continue to be rated that. I'm sorry if this offends you but… that's the way it goes. And I'm sorry it took me so long to get this up. My computer is officially broken beyond repair (I've recently discovered that laptops + alcohol = bad idea) and I don't have the money to buy a new one. I'm on a friend's computer right now so it's a good thing that I already had a copy of this chapter in an email I sent to my beta. I'm still writing the story, but I have no idea when I'll have the time to type it all up so that I can post it. Anyways, thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and a huge thank you to Ledybug for betaing! I hope you guys like this one just as much… and remember to review and tell me what you think! :)

**Chapter 15**

Surprisingly, my friends took the news better than I thought. I had expected Lydia to yell and demand that I stay, or at least give me her deadliest glare while pretending that I wasn't there. Instead, she simply shrugged, hugged me and said that she hoped everything was alright. Although that might have more to do with the lie I had come up with than anything else.

Seth was waiting for me by the exit and took my hand the second I was in reach. "That went well," he said, clearly just as surprised as I was. "What did you tell them?"

"I said that Emma's house was broken into," I said, trying to seem nonchalant about the fact that I had just told my friends an outrageous lie. Forks was a small town and they would figure out soon enough that nothing had actually happened, and then the shit would really hit the fan. I wished I could just tell them the truth, that I had to go back to La Push with my werewolf boyfriend so I could tell the doctor vampire and his family about some Italian royalty that may or may not destroy the whole town. Unfortunately, they'd try to commit me if I said anything like that. I found it kind of depressing that they would only believe the lie. "She couldn't get a hold of me so she called your mom, who sent your friends up here."

He smiled as he held the back door of the Rabbit open. "Impressive. But what are you going to do when they find out it didn't happen?"

I shrugged. "Sit by myself at lunch."

He frowned and squeezed my hand. "It'll be alright. We'll break into your house if we have to."

Embry nodded in agreement from the front seat. "Thanks," I muttered.

I could see Quil smirking in the rear view mirror. "Yeah, Seth's gotten pretty good at breaking into your house in the middle of the night." I felt my neck growing hot as I realized that the entire pack knew exactly where Seth had spent the past few nights. Suddenly, I was extremely glad that I had managed to keep my hormones in check.

Seth frowned at his friend, clearly just as embarrassed as I was, and decided to change the subject. "Is Bella still human?"

"No," Quil said, scowling as he turned the car down the dark highway that would lead us back to Forks.

"Um… doesn't that mean she can't control herself?" I asked. When no one answered me, I continued, "And she's here, in Forks? Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this?"

"Actually, she's outside town with Jacob," Embry said, the confident tone in his voice showing that he believed his friend could contain a bloodthirsty vampire.

"Jacob's with her?" Seth asked curiously.

"Yeah," Quil said. "Things have gotten a little complicated."

Seth nodded, completely satisfied with Quil's vague answer. Maybe he knew that he would get the full story the second he phased, but I was still curious and I had no supernatural way of finding the whole thing out later. "What happened?" I asked. I was probably sticking my nose into something that didn't really concern me, but they couldn't just drop a bomb like that and then not explain.

"Jacob imprinted." Quil must have seen the curious expressions on our faces because he grimaced as he continued, "On Bella's daughter."

"What?!" Seth practically shouted, obviously very confused. "Bella has a daughter?"

"Yeah," Embry scowled. "Some kind of mutant vampire baby that ages in dog years." He shook his head. "Poor Jake."

Seth and I shared a disgusted look, both a little weirded out by the fate that life had handed to Jacob. It seemed a little cruel that he would imprint on the daughter of the woman he had loved and lost. "Bella and Edward are okay with that?" he asked.

Embry shrugged. "They are now." It was clear that the conversation was over; although I was sure I would learn more about Jacob's strange situation from Seth later.

We spent the rest of the ride in a tense silence. Seth had unbuckled my seatbelt and pulled me on to his lap, holding me as close as I could get in the backseat of the small car. Quil and Embry were both practically glaring out the windshield, clearly upset by the fact that the vampires were back in Forks. I tried not to let my fears run away from me, instead imagining what I would tell Lydia when she found out that I lied to get out of the "group hang" she organized, just so I could go off with Seth and his friends. There really was no believable excuse I could give her, and the truth was definitely out of the question. I would really have to make this up to her in a big way, maybe by actually setting her up with one of Seth's friends, or finally agreeing to go to that stupid dance. Hopefully, she would be so excited that she would completely forget the fact that I had ditched her with no good excuse as to why.

But I couldn't keep my real fears away for long. The second we reached Forks, I couldn't keep my mind off the vampires any longer. My muscles tightened in fear and Seth could easily feel the tension in my body.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, trying to keep our conversation as private as possible. I was incredibly grateful for that. I didn't want to admit to Embry and Quil that I was scared of coming face to face with more vampires. I contemplated not saying anything, feeling a little ashamed of myself. I mean, Seth and his friends faced vampires all the time and they never seemed scared. It didn't matter that they could fight them off, it's not like they would let anything happen to me. And besides, the Cullens were supposed to be friendly vampires, if there was such a thing. I had no reason to be scared. I was about to shake my head when Seth placed his overly large hand on my cheek and forced me to look him in the eye. "Please, Liz," he said softly. "Tell me what's wrong."

I couldn't deny him then, not when it felt like his beautiful brown eyes were staring straight through me to the real reason. "How many vampires will be there?" I asked, my voice sounding small and pathetic.

He started to smirk but stopped at the look on my face. "The Cullens won't hurt you, Liz. They're the good vampires."

"I didn't realize there was such a thing," I muttered, not entirely comforted by what he said.

Quil chuckled. "Only three of them will be there."

"Who?" Seth asked curiously. I remembered then that he actually considered one of the Cullens to be his friend. They couldn't be all that bad then, right? I wasn't so sure that this would be much comfort when I met them, though.

"The mind reader, the blonde male and Carlisle," Quil answered as he parked near the 'Welcome to La Push' sign on the side of the two-lane highway.

"Jasper's here?" Seth looked a little uncomfortable by that. Jasper definitely couldn't be good if Seth was this apprehensive about his presence. We climbed out of Jacob's car and he immediately put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to his side. I was grateful for his touch; it was the only thing that would stop me from hyperventilating in the presence of three vampires.

Sam, Paul, and Jared walked out of the woods, all of them wearing only shorts. "Hello, Liz," Sam said, looking incredibly tense. It looked like he wanted to be there just as much as I did.

I nodded at him, not wanting to open my mouth and let everyone know just how terrified I was by vomiting again. The other two nodded at me as well, and then stared intensely up the road, as if they were expecting the vampires at any second. Embry and Quil ran into the forest but only one emerged as a wolf. The other one must have gone off to patrol the area with Leah, Brady and Collin.

Soon enough, a silver Volvo came down the road and stopped thirty feet from where we stood. And then three of the most beautiful people I had ever seen stepped out. It was as if they had just walked right off a movie screen. There were two blonds, one looked older and almost friendly while the other was more standoffish, which seemed to only make him even more intimidating. The other had the strangest bronze colored hair and looked younger than the others. They walked slowly up to us, stopping once they were five feet away.

The pack spread out into a small line. It felt like we were lining up for pistols at dawn or something. I was waiting for someone to declare a duel when Seth finally broke the tense silence. "Hey Edward!" he said, smiling that wide goofy smile that I couldn't get enough of.

The bronze haired one smiled softly. "Hello Seth. It's good to see you." He must have noticed me in Seth's arms because he said, "You must be Liz. I'm Edward Cullen; this is my father, Carlisle, and my brother, Jasper." He pointed to them as he said their names, his movements slow and deliberate, probably not wanting to startle me. I felt a little comforted by this. Maybe Seth had been right, these vampires were the exact opposite of the other ones I had run into. "Actually, Liz, that's what we wanted to talk to you about."

"What?" I asked. I was pretty sure that I hadn't said that out loud, unless I was losing my mind.

Seth chuckled at my confused expression. "Edward can read people's minds," he explained. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I guess," I muttered. I didn't really know what to say to that. It really wasn't all that cool, though. I didn't like that he could see inside my head, which was supposed to by my private sanctuary. I felt almost violated. How did his family deal with that?

"They've learned a few effective ways of keeping me out," he smirked. I frowned at this, wishing there was some way I could keep him out too. Maybe if I sang one of those obnoxiously catchy Beyoncé songs repeatedly in my thoughts… or maybe those awful nightmares of continuous bloodshed I'd had since finding out about the supernatural world would be enough to make him stay out of there. That didn't work, though, because I couldn't stop myself from trembling at the thought of the small vampire whose glare literally sent daggers through my nervous system. Edward's eyes snapped to me and I noticed Jasper looking between the two of us curiously. "When did you meet Jane?" he asked in alarm. "I thought only Felix and Demetri were in Forks."

I scrunched up my nose in confusion. "Who's Jane?" I turned to Seth and saw that he was looking at me in a mixture of confusion and betrayal, as if he thought I was sneaking off to meet terrifying vampires behind his back or something.

"That girl you were just thinking about," Edward answered. "What was that? A nightmare?" I winced as I nodded. "But you've never met her?"

"No." I could feel the eyes of the pack on me and I knew I would have to explain later. I hadn't even told Seth about the horrible nightmares I had whenever I wasn't sleeping in his arms.

"What is it, Edward?" the older blond, I think his name was Carlisle, asked.

He held up a finger, not looking away from me. "Was that the first time this happened?" I shook my head, remembering the series of nightmares I'd had involving a burly, black-haired vampire that looked a lot like Felix. Edward turned to the two vampires, who were both staring at him curiously, and explained, "She seems to be having dreams about members of the Volturi guard… before she meets them."

I shifted uncomfortably, feeling like some kind of humungous freak. Seth calmed me down greatly by squeezing my shoulder. "Are her dreams like Alice's visions?" the other vampire, Jasper, asked.

"No," Edward said. "I don't think it's the future. The last one had other members of the Volturi guard, like Heidi and Santiago, but they were only fighting half of the wolf pack. It's almost as if it's influenced by outside forces, like her fear of vampires and the way she feels for Seth. But it's strange how accurate her visions of the vampires are, as if she is highly aware of their presence somehow."

"Maybe it's somewhat like Alice's power," Carlisle mused, "but only pertains to the people involved instead of the events taking place." He was staring at me as if I were some kind of interesting experiment. "It could be helpful if the wolves and Bella continue to interfere with Alice's sight."

I could feel the blood rising up my neck. I didn't want to hear about some weird connection I had with vampires, or how helpful it could be. There were lines drawn in the sand between the wolves and the bloodsuckers, if the way we all stood on separate sides of an invisible line in the road meant anything. And it should be clearly obvious which side I was on. "Is that all?" I asked, feeling more uncomfortable by the second. "I have to get home by eleven." Technically, Emma hadn't given me a curfew tonight but I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Edward smiled apologetically at me and it took me a moment to realize that he probably knew I was lying. I found it difficult to look him in the eye as he said, "It's okay, Liz. We just wanted to hear about what happened with Felix and Demetri. Jacob told us a little bit about it but it didn't seem like he had the entire story. What did they say to you?"

I bit my lip, not too thrilled to be thinking about that afternoon. "They knew that I knew they were vampires. They thought you guys had told me about them and they were pretty pissed about it."

"They mentioned us by name?" Carlisle asked. I nodded and he continued his questioning. "Did they say they were looking for us?"

"No," I said softly, pushing my hand against my forehead. It was so hard trying to remember what exactly they had said when I had wanted so desperately to just block it all out. "They spoke to each other in Italian and the wolves showed up pretty quickly."

"Can you remember what they said?" he asked, his voice soft and gentle. I idly wondered if he was the Dr. Cullen that Emma had been so crazy about. He seemed to fit the part.

I shook my head, as if that would somehow clear it. "No. I don't know Italian. It all sounded like a lot of nonsense to me."

"Just clear your head and try to remember," Edward said.

I turned my head to the side and took in Seth's scent. A strange sense of calm came over me as I tried to picture that day. It was almost as if it was coming from some kind of outside source, especially since I had never been anything but terrified whenever I thought about those hungry Italians, but that would have been crazy. It was easier to remember my encounter without the fog of fear, although I wasn't sure if I was able to remember the Italian correctly. I didn't even bother trying to repeat it because I knew Edward could hear it clearly in my head.

"Hm," Edward said, breaking my thoughts once I had reached the part where the wolves had come in. "That was Jane that you had smelled, Carlisle."

Carlisle nodded, although he didn't look pleased that he was right. "Did they say anything else?"

"They were confused by the wolves, but that was it." Edward looked a little unsatisfied with the answers he had gotten.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Sam asked, speaking up for the first time.

"Yes. They were most likely here in the first place to make sure that… well, that Bella was no longer human. Instead, they found that we had disappeared and there was another human who knew their secret. I can't imagine that they're very happy about that. And I'm sure Aro will be very curious about the wolves." Edward must have heard the questions that were probably racing through everyone's minds as he continued, "Aro is the unofficial leader of the coven. He would find the fact that you are so unlike other werewolves very interesting."

I couldn't hold my question in. "There are other werewolves?!"

Edward nodded. "There are ones who change only at the full moon. They're mostly extinct now; Caius had practically the entire species wiped out at the beginning of the 15th century. But this pack is more like shape-shifters than regular werewolves."

Sam didn't seem to care about this, although I found it fascinating. Shape-shifters were a lot less scary than werewolves. And the pack never seemed to follow what was widely believed to be werewolf canon. "Do you know when they'll come back?"

Edward shook his head. "Alice is trying to watch both the Volturi and their guard but Bella has been making it difficult." He shared a look at Carlisle and then continued, "We wanted to talk to you about this. Bella, Nessie, and I will be moving into a small cottage deeper in the woods so Bella doesn't interfere with Alice's visions. We've noticed your scent around there. We can understand that there are certain parts of Forks that you'll want to watch over, but we can take care of our territory now."

Sam nodded. "And you'll let us know when they decide to come here?"

"Of course," Carlisle said. "We'll get in contact with you straight away."

Sam sighed. "Okay. Thank you for meeting with us." Then he turned to Jared and Paul, effectively ending the tense meeting with the vampires, and said, "We'll have to work out a new perimeter."

I didn't get to hear their response because Seth was practically dragging me over the invisible line that separated the supernatural beings. "Carlisle, you won't mind if I keep a tight patrol around Liz's house, will you?"

"Of course not," he smiled. "Although I'm not sure how Sam will feel about that." I looked back at Sam and noticed that the entire pack was watching warily as Seth and I talked with the older Cullen.

Seth grumbled something that I couldn't quite hear and Carlisle chuckled, his laugh sounding like bells. It was unnerving how attractive these vampires were up close. Even though Edward looked impatient and Jasper was obviously very uncomfortable, they both looked like Greek gods. Their pale skin was completely flawless and the strange topaz color of their eyes contrasted beautifully with the dark shadows underneath them. Still, as attractive as they were, I felt uneasy being this close to them.

"Come on, Seth," I said, trying to pull him back towards the red Volkswagen. "I should go home now." He nodded reluctantly, clearly wanting more time to catch up with his friends. I felt bad, but not bad enough that I was willing to spend any more time with the immortals. My nerves were shot from dredging through my memories of Felix and Demetri and I just wanted to go to bed.

Carlisle smiled kindly at me. "It was nice meeting you, Liz," he said, holding out his hand.

I stared at it for a long moment. I knew I would have to shake it, these were Seth's friends and it would be extremely rude if I didn't. I reached out slowly, my hand trembling when I felt that strange calm come over me again. His hand was freezing cold and it felt like I was shaking the hand of some kind of statue. "You too," I muttered, dropping his hand quickly. I turned to Seth and saw that he was beaming proudly at me. At least I had managed to make him happy. He said goodbye to the other two and followed me back to Jacob's car. We watched in silence as the Cullens got into the silver Volvo, turned around and drove off towards Forks. The rest of the pack took off into the trees, including the dark brown wolf that had stood silently by Jared the whole time the vampires were here. "Who's going to drive us home?" I asked.

Seth shrugged. "I'm sure Quil will be back soon." He stood in front of me and stared down at the ground, hurt prominent in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me about those nightmares?"

"I didn't think they meant anything," I said, shrugging my shoulders. This didn't seem to comfort him, though. I stood up on my toes and reached up to put my hand on his cheek. "Besides, they went away the night you started staying with me, which I was more than happy about."

He smiled, his excitement finally starting to show. "It's pretty cool though, isn't it?"

"Not really," I frowned. I still wasn't completely sold on it. Maybe I just had some kind of overactive imagination that had simply gotten lucky in making those exact vampires up.

"Yeah it is!" he said. "You're like our little security system, you could tell us when there are vampires coming into the area." He smiled unapologetically at my glare and leaned his forehead against mine. "There's nothing wrong with it, Liz."

I pursed my lips but didn't say anything. It was hard being annoyed with Seth when he was invading all of my senses like that. He had a small smirk on his face, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking, and then he leaned down and kissed me. It started off slow and gentle but quickly become more passionate as I ran my hands through his hair. His hands went to my waist as he pushed me up against the car. I could literally feel my hormones bursting through the hold I had on them as his right hand slowly made its way around the waistband of my skirt to my stomach. I sighed as he pulled away slightly.

He swallowed hard and looked down at his hands as they played with the hem of my shirt. "Liz… I have to tell you something. But you can't freak out, okay? I mean, it's completely fine if –"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I interrupted him. "Just spit it out, Seth." Jeez, I freaked out once, for a completely valid reason, and now he thinks the smallest thing will set off some kind of mental breakdown.

"I l–"

Someone banged on the hood of the car, causing me to shriek and jump away from Seth. Quil's laughter filled the air and he said, "You're really jumpy tonight, Liz."

I shot him a dirty look while Seth muttered, "Great timing, Quil."

Quil just smirked and climbed into the driver's seat. However, it slid off his face when he saw Seth climbing in the backseat with me. "No making out back there!" he warned. "You know Jake'll be pissed if you make it to second base in his backseat before he does, Seth."

I didn't need a mirror to know that I was blushing profusely; I could feel the blood warming my cheeks. Seth hit him on the back of the head and practically growled, "Shut up, Quil!"

Quil laughed. "Don't attack the driver! I will turn this car around, mister!"

I giggled as I snuggled up to Seth. The ride back to Emma's was quiet after that. Quil had smirked whenever he glanced in the backseat, but he managed to somehow keep his comments to himself. Seth didn't pay any attention to him, though, instead spending the whole ride home playing with my curls. I thought I was going to burst from happiness when we pulled into my driveway. It took me a moment to notice the flashing blue and red lights of the cop car in the front of the house. "What's going on?" I asked shrilly, images of Emma getting hurt by one of those royal vampires racing through my mind.

"Don't flip, Liz," Quil said. "But Embry decided to help you out. He didn't take or break anything, so don't worry about that. He just kicked the door in, waited for the alarm to go off, and then took off before anyone could see him."

"Oh," I said, feeling slightly relieved.

I got out of the car and Emma immediately ran over, throwing her arms around me. "Oh thank God you're alright, Lizzie," she said. "I was beginning to think something happened to you. We are going to have to get you a cell phone because I swear; I almost had a heart attack."

"Nope, I'm completely safe," I said, wishing she would get off me.

She finally pulled away and said, "It's a miracle Sophie didn't get out."

"Yeah," I said, strangely glad that the mutt had managed to stay in the house. The cop grabbed Emma's attention then as he asked her if anything was taken.

Once she was gone, Seth kissed me quickly before whispering, "I don't think I'll be able to make it tonight. Sam's setting up new patrols and I might not be able to get away."

I tried not to frown as I said, "Okay."

He smiled sadly at me, kissed me again, and then got into Jacob's car. I waved as they drove down the street and then spent the next hour trying to help Emma see if anything had been taken. She couldn't get over just how weird it was, the fact that someone had broken into the house without actually stealing something.

I finally lied, saying that I was too exhausted to check under the sofa and see if they had taken anything from under there, just so I could get away. I pulled on the same pajamas I wore whenever Seth slept over, even though I knew he wasn't coming, because I hoped his scent lingering on the fabric would keep the nightmares away. It didn't matter, though, because I simply found it impossible to sleep. I was exhausted but my mind would just not shut off.

It was still racing hours later when I felt the weight shifting on the bed, as if someone was climbing in with me. I rolled over, ready to shove the dog off, but was pleasantly surprised to see Seth settling in next to me. "Hey," he whispered. He was wearing only a pair of light blue basketball shorts and I couldn't stop my eyes from wandering over his muscular chest. "I got Brady to cover for me."

I smiled and asked, "Emma didn't hear you, did she?"

He listened intently for a moment and said, "No, she's still sleeping."

"Good," I said, pulling his face to mine and kissing him hard.

He responded in kind, pulling away only when he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "What's gotten into you?"

I knew this out of character for me. I had tried to keep things like this to a minimum, knowing that kissing him in my bed would only tempt my raging hormones to take it further. But it didn't matter to me tonight. It was like something had snapped inside me earlier and I just couldn't contain myself anymore. I smiled back as I said, "No one can interrupt us this time." Then I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his face back to mine.

He pulled away quickly. "That's true, but I was actually hoping we could talk. I have something to tell you."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. I couldn't believe that he wanted to spend this prime making out time talking. I kissed my way down his neck. "So talk," I said, my lips brushing softly against his copper skin.

He let out a strangled sigh. "I can't think when you do that."

I smiled, incredibly pleased that I was able to affect him like that, and pulled away to look him in the eye. "What is it?"

He looked into my eyes, that intense look that always made me feel weak in the knees, but it was tinged with anxiety. "I love you," he whispered.

I'm not sure what came over me then. Those three little words broke back the feeling of absolute contentment I had felt in the car. I crashed my lips onto his, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him on top of me. He let me do it, seeming pleased by my reaction. I was glad he hadn't expected me to say it back right away, those three words meant so much and I wasn't sure if I was ready to say them. Besides, I much preferred to show him how I felt. I ran my hands down his muscular back as his made their way over my stomach, their warmth seeping through the thin material of my shirt. He bit down on my bottom lip and it was like the hormones that I had been trying so hard to contain all week finally took control of my body. I let out a small moan and hitched my leg over his hip, trying to meld my body to his.

"We should stop," he whispered against my lips. I shook my head, breathing a little bit too hard to say anything. I could feel _him_ through his shorts and I definitely did not want to stop now. I pushed my hips up against his and he groaned. "Really, we need to stop," he said, moving his hands down to my hips to hold them in place.

"I don't think I can," I whispered truthfully, nipping gently at his neck.

His hips bucked down onto me, almost as if it was some kind of reflex, and he brushed against a spot that I hadn't even know existed. It felt so _good_ that I couldn't stop myself from making this really embarrassing whimpering noise. He practically jumped off me then, looking at me in fear as he asked, "Did I hurt you?"

"No," I said quickly, still finding it hard to breathe normally. I could feel the warm rush of blood as it flooded my cheeks. I suddenly felt so embarrassed; I couldn't believe how forward I had just been with him.

His eyes were still wide with worry and another emotion I couldn't quite place. "I should go," he said, heading for the door.

"What? No! Don't go," I said, jumping out of bed to stop him.

He smiled down at me, probably trying to reassure me, but it didn't stop the rejection that I felt. "I really should," he said. "It won't take Sam that long to notice I'm not there. He's pretty pissed at me already; I don't want to make it worse." I nodded sadly and he kissed me quickly on the forehead before leaving just as silently as he came.

I sat down in the armchair, knowing it would be impossible to sleep now. I had pushed him too far and I knew it. Still, I couldn't help wondering why he had pulled away in the first place. I thought he had wanted me just as much as I wanted him, his body had definitely seemed to be into it, but why else would it have been so easy for him to pull away? I realized that I would have to talk to him about this and apologize for being so forward with him. I groaned, placing my head in my hands. That was sure to be the most embarrassing conversation I would ever have in my life, and that included the sex talk I had gotten from Emma.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I am not making any kind of profit from this.

**Chapter 16**

I must have eventually fallen asleep in the armchair because I woke up to Emma squeezing me awake. "Aunt Emma, what are you doing?" I asked, my voice slightly muffled by her hair.

"Oh Lizzie," she said, squeezing me harder. "You don't have to be scared anymore, okay? I'm having a better alarm system installed first thing Monday morning."

"Okay..," I replied, a little fearful that she had finally gone off the deep end.

She held on for an excruciatingly uncomfortable minute before finally pulling away. "Come on," she said. "I'll make a big breakfast."

I held in a groan when I realized that she was going to use the "break-in" as an excuse to bond. I was going to have to get out of the house somehow before she tried to braid my hair, although I didn't really have any place to go. There was no way I was going to call anyone in La Push, I'm sure the pack's annoying shared mind had already filled them all in on what happened last night. It would be a while before I could face any of the Quileutes. And there was no way I was going to just wander around Forks again; I was all set against running into any more vampires, even if it was only the animal-drinking Cullens.

I followed Emma into the kitchen and found her making French toast. "So do you have any plans for today?" she asked. I shook my head, feeling more than a little upset that I'd be left alone with all of my thoughts today. She smiled slightly as she turned to the stove. "Well, I can give you a ride to La Push later if you'd like."

"No!" I said, a little too forcefully. I shouldn't have acted like I didn't want to see Seth. Emma wouldn't be able to let go of it now, but I couldn't handle being in La Push today. It was clear that Seth didn't want me in the same way I wanted him and that was a whole lot of rejection that I didn't want to deal with right now. And that wasn't even mentioning the complete mortification I'd feel being around the rest of the pack, who probably knew everything that had happened by now. No, I would much rather spend the day locked up in my room.

She turned to look at me. "Did you guys get into another fight?"

"No," I replied, hoping she wouldn't catch on to the lie. "No, it's just… I've spent a lot of time with him lately. I kind of wanted to hang out with my friends today."

She beamed as she turned back to the burning toast. "Good for you! You should hang out with your friends, Seth has been monopolizing a lot of your time lately."

I rolled my eyes when I knew she wouldn't see me. Emma was starting to drive me a little crazy. She had pushed me towards him and now she didn't think I was making enough time for the rest of my friends. She took the blackened bread off the skillet and wrinkled her nose. "Right, that one's Sophie's," I said, trying to hold in my laugh.

The overly large dog, who had been watching Emma as she cooked, stood up at the sound of her named and started wagging her tail. Emma looked between the food and the dog before she threw it in the trash. "That's not good for the dog," she muttered.

I couldn't hold my laugh in this time as I watched her throw another piece of bread into the skillet, splattering bits of egg everywhere. "Do you even know how to make French toast?"

She turned around and gave me a dirty look. "Of course I do."

I wasn't so sure about that, though. "Uh… I think I'm just going to have some Frosted Flakes."

"Suit yourself," she replied haughtily.

After I had gotten my cereal, I asked, "So, did you find out what they stole?"

"No!" she answered, frustration plain in her voice. "It's the weirdest thing, like they just kicked the door in and took off!"

"Maybe the alarm scared them off," I pointed out.

"Oh, wipe that stupid smile off your face," she said, smiling at me to show that she was joking, as she sat down at the table with me.

"You have to admit, it is kind of funny."

"No it is not!" she said adamantly. "I can only imagine what would have happened if they had picked a house without an alarm system. Chief Swan wasn't able to lift any fingerprints off anything so there's no way to catch whoever it was. That's why I'm installing security cameras."

I choked on the flakes I was trying to eat. "What?!"

"Yes," she said. "They're putting them in on Monday, along with a DVR to record everything that happens."

"Don't you think that's a little extreme?" I asked. There was no way I could persuade Seth to come back if Emma put those stupid cameras up. I'm pretty sure she would lock me up and make sure I died a virgin if she ever caught him sneaking into my bedroom.

"You can never be too extreme when it comes to neighborhood safety," she said wisely, turning back to her breakfast.

"Right," I replied, trying not to roll my eyes at her. Maybe the faux break-in had sent Emma over the edge. She spent the rest of breakfast telling me about the new security system that was being installed, where the cameras were being placed and the corner of the basement where the TV and recorder were going to go.

By the time breakfast was over, I knew I had to find a way to get out of the house before Emma drove me nuts. She was so excited over the increased security but I couldn't revel in the fact that Seth wouldn't be able to come in at night anymore, not that he seemed to want to anyways. I grabbed the cordless phone and bought it up to my room, trying to remember Sammy's number. Luckily for me, it rang the second I closed the door behind me. "Hello?" I asked.

"Liz!" Lydia said. "Are you alright? The whole town's talking about it! Is it true they didn't take anything?"

Jesus, how was it that news traveled so fast in this small town? "Yeah, I think the alarm scared them off."

"Oh my God, are you alright?" she asked again.

"Of course," I said, getting really annoyed with the fact that people kept asking me that. "It's not like they took anything."

"Still," Lydia pointed out, "they might come back."

I laughed. "I'm sure Emma will be ready for them if they do."

I could actually hear her gasp. "She's not getting a shotgun, is she?"

"Of course not!" I said, although now that I thought about it, I wouldn't put it past her. "She's putting security cameras in all around the house."

"Oh, that's kind of cool."

"I guess," I agreed, even though I wasn't so sure about that.

"But aren't you a little freaked out by the thought that someone could like, try to get into your house while you're there?" she asked.

I decided to change the subject because there was no way I could tell her that the only things I was scared of breaking into the house moved too fast to be picked up by any kind of camera. "Hey, what are you doing today?"

"I think Sammy and I were going to go to that new mall in Port Angeles so we could get our dresses for the winter formal."

"Can I come?" I asked.

She gasped again, this time in excitement. "Did you finally decide to go to the dance?"

"No," I said, feeling more than a little disgusted at the thought of it. "I just want to get out of the house, Emma's going a little overboard with the home security thing."

I could practically see her pursing her lips in disapproval before she sighed. "Alright, we'll be there around noon."

"Thanks, Lyd," I said.

"And if we happen to find a dress for you, then it's all for the better!" she said suddenly, and I could tell that she was going to do whatever she could to make me go to that stupid dance.

"No, Lydia –," I started to say before I heard the dial tone indicating that she had already hung up.

I got ready slowly after that, taking a long hot shower and then actually taking the time to straighten my hair. I moved methodically, keeping my mind occupied so I wouldn't have to think about Seth. I took my time picking out a pair of dark wash jeans and a black sweater but I still had some time until they'd show up. I decided to use my last resort at keeping my mind off Seth, which was talking to Emma.

She was cleaning the living room but she turned around when she heard me coming down the stairs. "You look nice," she said, smiling knowingly at me. "So is Seth coming here or will you be going to La Push? Because if you're going there, I'm going to have to make sure Sue is around to supervise." The thought of us even doing anything that would require supervision made me wince, which seemed to make her even more suspicious. "Are you sure you guys didn't get into a fight?"

"Yes, Aunt Emma," I sighed. Maybe I should have just stayed upstairs, drowning in the sting of Seth's rejection. "Seth and I are perfectly fine but, you know, thanks for all your concern."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You know, Liz, if something's wrong, you can talk to me about it."

"Yeah, thanks," I said, knowing that my inability at seducing Seth was something I would never talk to her about. I decided it would be best if I just changed the subject entirely. "I'm going to go to Port Angeles with Lydia and Sammy, okay?"

"Who's Sammy?" she asked.

"Samantha Davis," I said. "She's in my grade at school."

Emma nodded and I rolled my eyes. It didn't surprise me that she knew who she was. "Oh yeah, I know her mother. She works at the bank." She wrinkled her nose and asked, "Weren't you just in Port Angeles last night?"

"Yeah, at the movies. They want to go to that new mall in town to get dresses for that winter dance," I replied.

Her eyes seemed to brighten at that. "That sounds nice."

I could see where her train of thought was taking her and I decided to squash it before it got too out of hand. "Yeah, I guess. I'm just helping them pick out dresses though."

"Oh, if you need money to get one for yourself, I could lend you some," she offered. She walked over to her purse, which she had left by the front door. "How much are they, do you know?"

"No," I said, looking at her in a mixture of bewilderment and horror. "No, I don't need a dress."

"Did you bring one?" she asked in confusion.

"No… I don't need one because I am not going to the dance."

"Oh, you should go, Liz," she said. "You and Seth would have a lot of fun there."

I exhaled in relief when the doorbell rang then. I didn't want to have the same conversation with Emma that I had had countless times with Lydia. Somehow, I didn't think Emma would back off quite as easily as Lydia always did. "Hey," Lydia said, smiling as soon as I opened the door.

I smiled back. "Hold on, I've got to get my coat." I took a step towards the hallway closet but stopped when I heard Emma clear her throat. "Oh, right," I said, turning around and noticing her pointed look. "Aunt Emma, this is Lydia. Lydia, this is my Aunt Emma." I raised an eyebrow at her, clearly hoping she was satisfied with that introduction, before I went to get my coat.

"I'm sorry about what happened," I heard Lydia say. "Do they have any leads on who it was?"

"No," Emma replied. "They dusted practically the whole house for fingerprints but didn't find a single thing. It's like they just kicked the door in and ran off."

"Maybe it was just some stupid kids messing around," Lydia suggested.

"Well, I'll be ready for them the next time they try to vandalize my house," Emma answered fiercely.

"Yeah, she's going to go full Rambo on them," I joked as I pulled my coat on.

Lydia laughed as Emma rolled her eyes at me. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. O'Brien," Lydia said.

Emma smiled. "You too, Lydia." She pulled something out of her wallet and pressed it into my hand. "In case you change your mind," she explained.

I tried not to look annoyed at the American Express card in my hand. "Thanks," I muttered before following Lydia out the door.

"What did she give you?" Lydia asked curiously after she had climbed into the front seat of Sammy's Jeep. I showed her my aunt's credit card and she laughed. "See! Even your aunt wants you to go!"

"I'm still not going," I said defiantly.

Lydia sighed in exasperation. "Why not?" she asked for what felt like the ninety-seventh time.

"Dances are so not my thing," I explained.

"Yeah, but you don't have to go the whole poofy dress and corsage route," Sammy said, ignoring the glare that Lydia sent her. "Honestly, it's just kind of fun dressing up and going there. I mean, you don't even have to dance if you don't want to."

"Okay, Sammy," Lydia interjected. "That's enough. You're only going to make things worse."

Sammy laughed. "But I'm serious! I went to Homecoming with Will and we spent the entire time in the corner –"

"Doing things that the school frowns upon," Lydia interrupted. "Sammy just likes dances because they give her an excuse to lie to her parents about staying at my house so she can spend the night with Will."

I turned to Sammy and felt a little surprised she had gotten that far in her relationship with Will. "What?" she asked. "Is there something wrong with wanting to be alone with my boyfriend?"

"Of course not." Lydia turned to the window and smirked as she muttered, "Skank."

Sammy laughed and punched her shoulder. "Whatever, you're just jealous."

"Of course I am!" Lydia laughed, hitting Sammy back. "I want a boyfriend with an older brother willing to rent a hotel room for us."

I shook my head at the two of them. "You guys are disgusting."

Lydia laughed even harder at that. "Spoken like a true virgin."

I could feel my face getting hot. "You're not?" I asked. She shook her head and I suddenly felt embarrassed.

Sammy looked at me strangely in the rear view mirror. "So you and Seth have never…?"

"No," I said. I could actually feel my face getting redder. "I just met him."

"Yeah but you guys seem to have a really serious relationship already," Lydia said. "I mean, he looks at you like he'd throw himself in front of a train for you, and you're not much better."

I simply shrugged at that, which didn't seem to satisfy their curiosity. "How far have you guys gone?" Sammy asked curiously.

"Not that far," I replied, starting to regret coming with them. I hadn't realized I had just entered a mobile Loveline of sorts.

"Are you waiting for marriage or something?"

"No," I replied. I could feel the heat of my blush get even worse as I decided to talk to them about what had happened last night. It would be nice to get someone else's opinion, and despite what Emma had said, I didn't really think this was something I could talk to her about. "I don't know. I think he might be, though."

"Why?" Lydia looked a little more excited than she should have at the fact that I had finally decided to share.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It seems like every time I try to, you know, go further, he just pulls away. Like last night… maybe I pushed him a little too far but he seemed just as into it as I was until he took off."

"No!" Lydia said, looking horrified. "Have you talked to him since then?"

I shook my head. "I've been a little bit too embarrassed, to be honest."

"You really should," Sammy said. "I mean, he might want to wait but he might be scared of pushing you too far. And he's younger than you, right?" I nodded. She turned to Lydia and threatened, "If you ever repeat what I'm about to say to anyone, I will break you face, okay?"

Lydia laughed. "There's no need to get violent."

Sammy narrowed her eyes at her before turning back to the road. "I had that same problem with Will at first. He was a little insecure about being younger than me and he thought I'd, I don't know, be appalled at his inexperience and dump him on the spot or something. I don't think he realized that I was just as new to it as he was."

I nodded, hoping that was Seth's problem. It was much better than the alternative of him just not wanting me in that way. It also felt nice being able to talk to the two of them about it. I had been worrying about it almost all night and just getting it out made me feel like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. However, as nice as it was talking about it, I was still relieved when we pulled into the mall parking lot. I felt like I had shared enough about my sex life, and I had definitely heard enough of theirs to last me a lifetime. I noticed a large banner over the main entrance, along with a number of bright balloons. "Did it just open?"

"The grand opening was a couple weeks ago," Lydia said. "Don't worry, though, they have a lot of great stores."

"Uh… okay," I answered, climbing out of the backseat.

"Yeah, she looked really worried about that," Sammy said sarcastically.

"Shut up!" Lydia laughed as she pushed her into a parked car.

"So where are we going first?" I asked.

Sammy shrugged. "Lydia has to pick up her dress."

"But I thought you already had one," I said, feeling more than a little confused. I distinctly remembered the fifteen-minute description I had gotten of her perfect dress on my first day at Forks High.

She shook her head. "I didn't have enough money for it when I was here the last time."

"And now that she's finally convinced her mom to let her use her credit card, she had to wake me up at the crack of dawn and race over here," Sammy said."

"Oh," I replied, hoping that the store still had the dress lest we witness Lydia having a major meltdown.

I mainly followed them around the giant department store that was a large staple of most malls as they browsed the clothing racks. Lydia had been right about her dress, it was definitely beautiful, but she did her best to get on my nerves by pulling out ones that she thought would look good on me while Sammy rifled through the racks. By the time she had waved what felt like the thirtieth taffeta pink monstrosity in my face, I was ready to punch her. I was able to hold it in, though, and I decided it would be best if I waited for them outside the store.

"This store sucks," Sammy said, sounding incredibly frustrated as she plopped down next to me on the bench outside the store.

"Definitely," I agreed, eyeing Lydia warily as she joined us.

However, she was too preoccupied with the people walking out of the Apple store. "Oh my God," she said, her eyes practically the size of dinner plates. "I didn't know they were back in town."

"Who?" I asked curiously while Sammy simply shook her head.

"The Cullens," Lydia said, nodding toward two women carrying large bags with the Apple logo on them. Much like the three I had met last night, they looked like they had just stepped off a movie screen. One of them was very short, maybe even shorter than me, with short spikey black hair and a certain graceful dance-like movement. The other one was absolutely gorgeous in a swimsuit model kind of way. She had a tall, curvy figure that was clearly visible through her form-fitting clothes and beautiful, curly blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. Her walk resembled a model's too, her hips swaying in the same way someone's would if they were strutting down the runway. The surprise I felt at how absolutely beautiful they were must have shown on my face because Lydia started to laugh. "Yeah, a lot of people seem to have that reaction."

"Who are they?" I asked. I hadn't met them but I had heard enough about the Cullens from Seth to know that neither of them were Bella, she would be too crazy with bloodlust to be able to stay in a crowded mall, which meant that they were either Rosalie, Esme or Alice, the fortune teller.

"The small one is Alice. She has the most amazing fashion sense. I swear, she wears original designer pieces before they make it big," she said, sounding in owe of the faerie-like vampire. "Man, I wish there was some way I could just pick her brain about clothes."

"And the blonde?"

"Oh, that's Rosalie," Lydia said, pursing her lips.

Sammy laughed. "Lydia doesn't like her."

"Why not?" I asked curiously.

"Just look at her!" Lydia said, gesturing toward the beautiful blonde as she walked towards the exit. "Do you know how hard it is to get a guy's attention when she's in the same room?"

"It's not like she can help that," I pointed out, surprised by how shallow her reason was.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that's why she dresses like that," she muttered. Then her face brightened and she stood up. "Come on, there's this cute little dress shop by the food court."

But I wasn't ready to let the topic of conversation drop. "So why didn't you ever talk to her?"

"Who?"

"Alice Cullen," I said. "I mean, it seems like you would have had a lot in common."

She laughed at the mere suggestion. "No one just talks to the Cullens."

"Why not?" They had seemed perfectly nice when I met them, despite the fact that they were vampires. And that couldn't even be that large of a detriment since Seth, their mortal enemy, liked them so much.

Lydia shrugged. "They kept themselves isolated from everyone until Bella moved here. And by the way she reacted when they left, it seemed like a good thing that everyone had kept their distance." I raised an eyebrow at her when she didn't continue, which caused her to start laughing. "Jeez, Liz, I never knew you were such a gossip."

I shrugged. "Everyone keeps talking about them and it's made me curious. And Seth hasn't really been that much help –."

"Oh yeah," Lydia said, interrupting me. "He's friends with Jacob Black, isn't he?" I nodded. "He must really hate the Cullens."

"Why?" I asked, thrown off by her assumption.

"Well, when they left, Bella turned into a zombie. It was actually kind of scary. She was dating the youngest one, Edward, and I guess he took her out into the middle of the woods to break up with her and then he just left her there. It took hours to find her. My dad was part of the search party and he said that she was practically catatonic, except she kept muttering 'He's gone.' It took her a week to come back to school, and when she did, it was like she was there but not really, you know?" she explained, stopping only when we entered a small shop full of vintage-looking dresses.

"But what does that have to do with Jacob?" I asked, looking through racks. The dresses were actually all pretty nice, even though I didn't really have a need for them.

"Well, he was the only one able to make Bella come alive again. It was kind of sweet, really. It seemed like he really liked her… but then the Cullens came back and Bella went right back to Edward as if nothing had happened. Then they got married this summer and moved to Alaska."

"Poor Jacob," I said, knowing just how much he had cared about Bella. It had been nice getting the dirt on the Cullens from a non-supernatural being, even if it was just their human charade.

"Yeah," Lydia said. "I wonder why they're back."

"Maybe Bella wanted to see her father for the holidays," Sammy offered, sounding a little annoyed. It was clear she didn't enjoy recounting the Cullen's past as much as Lydia did.

"But why would the whole family come with her?" Lydia asked suspiciously.

"I don't understand why you care so much," Sammy shot back.

I tuned their bickering out as I flicked through a rack of dresses, feeling a little guilty that my curiosity caused their fight. I stopped at a dark blue strapless dress and fingered the soft fabric. There was a thick black ribbon that went around the waist and ended in a bow on the right side. A floral lace pattern came out from the black ribbon, lying over the flowy bottom of the dress. I could actually see myself at the stupid dance in this dress, although the second vision I had of dancing with Seth ruined it. The dance wasn't that far away and who knew what would happen between then and now. Hopefully we would be able to talk by then but there was also a family of deadly vampires coming to Forks. I wasn't even sure if the town would still be here by the time the winter formal rolled around.

I must have been really lost in my thoughts about the destruction of the town I was actually starting to like because I didn't notice Lydia coming up behind me. She let out a loud gasp and I actually jumped in the air. "Oh, Liz! That's perfect!"

Sammy came over to look at it. "That is really nice," she agreed, smiling encouragingly at me.

"Yeah," I sighed, putting it back on the rack. It was too bad I didn't actually have any need for it.

Lydia looked at me as I were crazy. "What are you doing? You should buy it!"

"Why?" I asked. "I don't need it."

Lydia actually groaned. "Look, I understand you have this weird thing against dances but you should come! Or else you're going to end up forty and regretting the fact that you never went to any of your high school formals."

"I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be that high up on my list of regrets," I smirked.

"I don't get why you dislike them so much," Sammy said. "I mean, you get to put on a pretty dress and hang out with your friends and Seth for the night. The music leaves a lot to be desired but it's still a lot of fun!"

I sighed, ready to argue that I'd much rather spend the night doing something that I actually enjoyed when Lydia chimed in. "Just think about it! I mean, I know there's something else you'd probably rather do but I promise that we will make it fun. So, you know, just say that you'll at least think about it and we'll stop bugging you."

I don't know why but I was actually starting to actually feel guilty about refusing to go. "Fine," I said. "I'll think about it."

Sammy smiled and patted me on the back before going back to look for her own dress. Lydia, however, did not look completely satisfied. "And you're buying that dress," she added, although it sounded more like a demand.

"What?" I said, a little surprised.

"Come on, it's cute!" she insisted, pulling the hanger off the clothing rack. "And besides, if you do decide to go, you'll need something to wear."

"And if I decide not to go?"

She shrugged. "There's a thirty day return policy."

"Oh, fine," I sighed. She gave me a wide smile and I felt like I had just given up much more than I meant to.

And I had. Despite the fact that I insisted that I was only thinking about going to the dance, Lydia still dragged me around the mall so I could buy shoes and accessories to go with the dress. The whole time, I had the strangest feeling that we were being followed. Obviously, I was losing my damn mind. I was incredibly relieved when we finally decided to grab some food and go home. I mean, I had had a good time with them but I was really upset with myself. I couldn't believe I had let one moment of weakness allow Lydia to strong-arm me into going to this stupid dance. I could only hope that whatever was going on between Seth and I would be over by then so it wouldn't be that bad.

The reception I got at home didn't really make me feel much better. Emma wasn't even upset at the fact that I was home much later than I said I would be when she noticed the large garment bag I was holding. "So you decided to go after all?" she asked, the large smile on her face only seemed to upset me more.

"Uh… yeah. I guess so," I said, trying to figure out a way to get out of there quickly without seeming rude.

"Do you want me to heat you up some steak?" she asked as I gave her the credit card.

"No, we ate at the mall, but thanks," I replied. "Actually, I'm really tired so I think I'm just going to go to bed."

"Alright," she nodded. "Goodnight."

I gave her a small smile and made to leave the living room before stopping in the doorway. My curiosity was eating me up and there was no way I would get any sleep if I didn't have the answer. Despite that, I was a little wary of asking it because I knew Emma would turn it into some huge thing. "Did Seth call?" I asked, my voice low and frankly, pathetic. She shook her head and my heart fell.

"Lizzie, are you sure everything's okay?" Her voice was full of concern and it almost made me want to tell her everything. At least until I realized that she would probably lose her shit when she found out I had snuck him into my bedroom.

"Yeah," I said, plastering a giant, fake smile on my face. "Everything's fine, Aunt Emma. Night!" I raced up the stairs after that, trying not to slam the door behind me when I got to my room. I had wanted to call Seth so badly all day but if he was perfectly fine with not talking about what happened then I was too. I quickly changed into my pajamas, the warm flannel ones since I knew Seth wasn't coming, and got into bed, desperate to just not think.

----

When I found myself in the clearing again, however, I wished I had made myself call Seth. I would have preferred being the incredibly pathetic girl that had to beg her boyfriend to spend time with her over having these stupid nightmares.

The format of this one was different, though. I was standing in the trees at the side of the clearing and it seemed like no one knew I was there. Of course, this could have been because there appeared to be a full-out war happening right in front of me. There were a good twenty-five vampires in the clearing. I could see Demetri and another vampire fighting with the familiar sandy wolf, along with two other wolves, one chocolate brown and the other black. Carlisle and Jasper Cullen were fighting two burly vampires with olive complexions, their movements almost too fast for my eyes to see. The terrifying little girl was there, her eyes locked on Edward Cullen, who was lying on the ground, twitching in pain. There was another small child, a boy, that was fighting with a beautiful brunette. A russet wolf was trying to keep a toddler with curly bronze hair away from the fight, although it didn't seem to be working. Rosalie and a curly-haired vampire were ripping the arms off a dark-haired woman. Another woman with caramel-colored hair and a missing hand and a grey wolf were circling a man in a dark grey cloak. And there were pieces of other vampires, along with three different wolves, lying motionless on the ground.

Despite all the chaos, I heard a loud whine and I knew instinctively that it was Seth. When I turned back to where he was fighting, my knees gave out and I fell to the ground. Demetri had him around the middle, almost as if he was hugging him, and I could see the muscles in his arms flexing as he attempted to literally squeeze the life out of my boyfriend. "No," I muttered as I scrambled to my feet and tried to walk into the clearing. But every time I made my way through the trees, more sprung up in front of me as if they were multiplying, or maybe I was just moving backwards. There was a loud yelp, and then Demetri threw Seth's motionless body to the ground.

"No!" I yelled. It took me a few seconds to realize I was back in my dark bedroom. I was sitting up in my bed, although I had no idea how I had done that, and I was covered in sweat. "Shit," I muttered, putting my head in my hands. I didn't think I would ever be able to forget the things I had just seen. Even though it was just a dream, it had been so incredibly realistic that thinking about it made me nauseous. I knew it was the middle of the night but there was no way I would be able to fall back asleep now. In fact, I didn't think I would ever be able to sleep again. I leaned over and turned on the small lamp on my nightstand, figuring I would be able to finish my English essay by the time Emma got up.

And that was when I noticed the vampire sitting across from me.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm back! I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update but saving up for a brand new laptop was kind of a bitch. Believe me, these past few computerless months have been really hellish. Also, I'm really sorry if the formatting or anything is messed up. I've bought a Mac for the first time and I'm still getting used to it. I'm trying to go through and make sure everything's okay but I'm sure I am missing something. Anyways, I hoped you guys liked this chapter! I am actually almost finished with this story, I've been handwriting it while I was without a computer but the tricky part is getting it all typed up now. The next one is almost ready but I don't think it will be up before Friday because I've got finals this week.

So I hope this chapter was worth the long wait and I really hope you will review and let me know what you thought of it! And a huge thanks goes out to Ledybug for still betaing after all this time. :)


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

I opened my mouth to scream but she was next to me in a moment, her stone hand covering my mouth.

"It's okay," she said softly, her voice soft and melodic, as I struggled against her hold. "I'm not going to hurt you." That was hard to believe when she was clamping my mouth shut, though. But then I noticed the same short, spiky black hair that I had seen earlier in the mall and I relaxed slightly. "Don't yell, okay?"

I nodded and she removed her hand, moving to sit at the foot of my bed. I instinctively pulled my legs up to my chest and moved back against my headboard, trying to get as far away from her as possible. "What are you doing?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"Edward likes Seth very much," she said, which really didn't answer my question. "So when he asked him to keep an eye on you, he volunteered to send me in his place because he didn't want to leave Bella and Renesmee."

I hadn't thought I could feel worse but that definitely proved me wrong. I directed my thoughts away from that giant mess of pain and something clicked. "Is that why you were in the mall toady?" She nodded and I sighed in relief. So that explained that weird paranoid feeling I'd had all day. At least I wasn't going crazy.

"I'm sorry I just let myself in like this but I was really interested in your gift." And the strange thing was that she actually did sound sorry, although her curiosity was very clear as well.

I scoffed. "Some gift."

"It is a gift," she said. "Especially right now, when I can't see what will happen."

"Why can't you?"

She sighed. "The werewolves make it impossible to see anything happening in this town. They're so committed to fighting the Volturi that our whole future disappeared as soon as we agreed to come back."

I could feel my anger rising up when she said that. Of course they came back, the whole reason why those Italians were here was because of them. I knew how deadly vampires were, though, so I decided it would be best to censor my thoughts. "That must be scary," I whispered.

"It is," she agreed. "But it's something I've gotten used to."

"Are you around the wolves that much?" I asked, feeling a little confused. Seth had said that the wolves hadn't really warmed up, if they had at all, to the Cullens until June, and then they left in August. Had she really gotten used to their strange power in that short a time? And I couldn't really imagine the wolves deciding to spend any time around them, especially since the only one who really had any ties to them had spent the summer exploring northern Canada.

"No," she said, looking disgusted at the idea. "It's Bella's ability."

"She blocks the future out too?"

"She blocks everyone out. When she was human, it was only her mind that was unreachable. I was still able to see her future and Jasper could affect her emotions. But now, she can block out everything. It's like the shield she had around her mind strengthened and stretched out. She's actually got it around Edward and Nessie now too, although she has no idea how she's doing it, so I haven't really seen their futures since August."

I nodded, not really sure what to say. I was pretty sure I had seen Bella and her daughter in my dreams, and I definitely knew that I could see the werewolves. If there were some way I could transfer my visions/dreams over to her, I would happily do it without a second thought. She seemed to brighten up, though, when she asked, "Can you see the werewolves?"

"Yeah," I said. "I saw Edward too, and I'm pretty sure Bella and Nessie were there too."

"And the rest of us were there?" I nodded. "Have you ever seen us before?"

"No," I answered. "This is the first time I've had that dream since Felix and Demetri were here, though."

She scrunched her nose up in confusion. "Why? Have you not been sleeping?"

I shook my head. "Seth's been spending the night since then. This is the first time since that day that he hasn't been here." Alice got up at my answer and started pacing around my bedroom, a look of deep concentration on her face. Her lips were moving incredibly fast, as if she were muttering to herself, but I couldn't hear a thing. I watched her for a few minutes but I simply couldn't hold my curiosity in for very long. "What is it?"

"I think Carlisle is wrong," she answered as she continued to pace. "He thinks your gift is different from mine, that you only see supernatural beings that are in close proximity because you can see the wolves but you can't really see anything until it's been decided. The last time you had this dream, were we in it?"

"No," I said, shaking my head.

She smiled widely, the same way someone would smile when they finally solved a puzzle that had been haunting them. "That's because we hadn't decided to come here yet!"

"But then why can I see the wolves?" I asked. I didn't really understand what she was saying, not seeing things because they hadn't been decided, but I could see some pretty large holes in her theory.

She sat down in the armchair again and rested her chin on her hand. She didn't answer right away so I took that time to go to my closet and grab a dark blue hooded sweatshirt. She had an answer by the time I resumed my hunched up position against the headboard. "I think it's because you're so connected to the wolves. Your life is so tied up with Seth's that I don't think you could untangle it, even if you tried. And I can't see you at all so maybe it's because you're inside the bubble, you know? But still, you can't have any of these prophetic dreams when you're actually around them."

"But I saw Bella and Nessie too," I pointed out. Or what I'm pretty sure was them, anyways. I didn't know any other toddler vampires that the wolves would try to protect.

"Well, Nessie's inside the bubble too now that Jacob's imprinted on her. I'm sure you could see the other imprints in your dreams as well even though I can't. But I don't know about Bella… I'll have to think about that."

It didn't make any sense but I was actually starting to believe her. "I saw Felix," I said suddenly and she looked up at me. "Before they came here. It was after Seth told me about the whole werewolf thing. I thought it was because I refused to think about it while I was awake, it was just so crazy, and that was why I kept dreaming about a wolf fighting a vampire. But it was Felix."

Alice nodded. "Caius had planned on sending their guard here for a while, it was why we left so quickly."

"Didn't want to face them?" I asked, the anger seeping into my voice. I couldn't believe they were so cowardly. How could they leave when they knew these horrible vampires would come looking for them? All the people they had killed… those deaths were on the Cullen's hands.

Alice shot me a disapproving look, as if she could tell what I was thinking despite the fact that she was not the family mind reader. "Not with Bella pregnant. The Volturi are… ruthless. And Aro is very curious. If he had found out that Edward had impregnated Bella, he would have found a way to take her. And he would have kept the baby after Bella had given birth." She shivered then, as if the mere thought of it still scared her. "Bella would have died in childbirth, Edward would have died in his attempts to get revenge and then our entire family would have been destroyed."

"You saw it?" I asked. She nodded and I felt a little guilty. "I'm sorry."

She waved my apology off as if it was not needed. "How long did you dream about Felix before he showed up?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, maybe a week?"

"Did you have any other dreams like that before you came here?" she asked curiously.

I hadn't really thought of it before, I was too eager to blame it all on this strange town, but the truth was that I had had dreams like this in Boston. "I always thought they were just weird coincidences," I said, the shock running through me. As a child, I had always known not to expect my mother to show up at her supervised visits unless I had dreamt about it the night before, and I don't think I'd ever forget the reoccurring dreams I had about rainy cemeteries and shiny black coffins being lowered into open graves the week before my father's death. I had gotten the strangest feeling of déjà vu at his funeral but I hadn't given it much thought because I was too upset about being exiled to Forks.

"They weren't," she said softly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Was it like that for you when you were a human?"

She looked down at her feet, her mouth turned down at the corners and her perfect face marred by sadness. "I don't remember being human."

"Why not?" I asked curiously. I didn't really know anything about vampires and I wondered if they eventually forgot their human lives as they got older, or if they even remembered them at all.

"I was born around the turn of the century," she answered. "And having visions wasn't really accepted back then, so my family faked my death and put me in a mental asylum. I'm pretty sure the electro-shock therapy completely erased all of my memories.

"I'm sorry," I said again. It seemed like I kept putting my foot in my mouth every time I spoke to her.

She smiled. "There's nothing to apologize for, Liz." I smiled weakly back at her before getting lost in my thoughts again. I couldn't help but wonder how many other huge events in my life my dreams had predicted. How many other things could I have prevented by just paying attention to my subconscious?

Alice let me think in silence, instead choosing to explore my room. She looked at the pictures I had put up, stopping to study the prints I had of famous Van Gogh paintings and posters of my favorite bands. I realized ten that I actually liked Alice, well, as much as I could like a vampire anyways. Maybe it was some kind of psychic solidarity but I didn't even really feel afraid that she was in my bedroom, even though I would be completely helpless if she decided she was thirsty. She finally stopped at the large garment bag I had hung from the top of one of my closet door. "I like your dress, by the way," she said, breaking the long silence.

I jumped a little at the sound of her voice, I had been so used to the comfortable silence. I was a little disappointed that it was broken for this dreaded topic. "Thanks," I said after my heart had slowed back down to its normal pace.

"But I do have to say, I would have gotten the higher heel," she smirked.

I groaned. Lydia had pushed these cute black shoes on me that had seemed to add a good seven inches to my height. I had to admit, they definitely would have made the giant height difference between Seth and I less awkward but they were also the most uncomfortable things I had ever put on my feet. She had been very upset when I had chosen the flats instead. "Yeah, well, you're immortal so it wouldn't have mattered when the shoes killed you."

"Yes but dancing with someone that's over a foot taller than you can actually be a little painful," she said. "Or so I've heard."

"Can you even feel pain?" I laughed. "Besides, I think I can deal with it. I don't even know if I'm going to that stupid dance yet."

"Why not?" she asked curiously.

I shrugged. "I haven't talked to Seth about it yet."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll go with you," she said. "I don't need to be psychic to know that."

But I wasn't entirely convinced. "I don't know, he might think dances are stupid."

"I don't know much about imprinting but I don't think it works like that. I'm sure if he knew you wanted to, he'd have no problem going, even if school formals weren't really his thing." I raised an eyebrow at her knowledge of the werewolf oddity and she sighed. "There's this book that Nessie likes having read to her. We've all gotten sick of it but I've seen Jacob sit there for hours and read it over and over again simply because she asked him to."

"I'm not so sure if my hold on Seth is quite as strong," I sighed, remembering what had happening in this room the night before.

Alice shook her head at me. She noticed the sky lightening over the top of the giant pine trees outside my window. "I should go now."

"Yes, I'm sure you have some coffin to sleep in," I muttered. I was a little annoyed that this small vampire had kept me up half the night only to keep reminding me of Seth and the pain I felt at his rejection. I covered my mouth the second I realized that I had said that out loud, watching her in fear. I didn't know much about Alice Cullen, or vampires in general, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to antagonize one. After all, I had seen the terrifying power they possessed.

She simply laughed though. "I'll be back tomorrow night," she said before disappearing completely. I couldn't even see a blur of movement; the only thing that even indicated her departure was the slight fluttering of the curtains. I couldn't help feeling a little put out knowing that she had just invited herself over for the night. It would be impossible to sleep with one of those bloodthirsty creatures, tame or not, in my room. And how did she get in in the first place? I thought vampires could only enter private homes if they were invited in. Although I can't say that I minded all that much, Alice had shed some light onto the strange psychic ability I seemed to possess. I still couldn't believe I hadn't connected the dots sooner.

Emma found me like that hours later, still curled up against the headboard with my chin resting on my knees. She leaned against the doorway, her concern seeming to radiate off her. "Liz, is everything alright?"

I tried not to roll my eyes as I nodded. It was wrong of me to get frustrated with her, she only wanted me to be happy here, but I was tired and I felt drained. "I'm fine, Aunt Emma," I said, trying to keep my annoyance out of my voice. "You don't have to keep checking on me."

She smiled sheepishly. "I just want to make sure you're still here. After seeing how easy it was for someone to get in here, and then not knowing where you were… It puts my mind at ease when you're still here each morning."

I wasn't sure what to say to that so I decided to keep my mouth shut. It felt… nice, knowing she cared about me that much. It filled my chest with this strange warm feeling, the same I got whenever I hung out with the pack. And I couldn't help feeling guilty for the things I was keeping from her, the things I had done under her roof that I knew she wouldn't approve of. Maybe it was a good thing Seth had decided not to come back; I found that I didn't want face the disappointment that would be inevitable if she were to catch us.

She looked at me sadly when she realized I wasn't going to answer her. "I'm going to Hoquiam today. Do you want to take the ride with me? We could stop and get breakfast."

I shook my head, even though I actually wanted to go with her. It would probably be easier to sleep the further away from Forks I got. "I have a ton of homework," I said sadly. And I would never admit to it, because it was so very pathetic, but I was hoping I would be able to get a hold of Seth today. There was so much I had to talk to him about, like why he had asked the vampires to watch over me instead of just talking to me about what had happened the other night.

"Alright, but leave a note if you do decide to go anywhere. And…" she trailed off, biting her lip as if she were afraid of my reaction to whatever she was about to say.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I don't know if I'm comfortable with Seth coming over while I'm not here," she said, obviously remembering the compromising position she had found us in on the couch the last time we had been alone. I tried not to snort; I didn't think we would be having a repeat performance of that for a while. "Go to his house if you guys decide to hang out today, okay?"

I nodded and she made to step into my room, probably wanting to give me yet another hug, but she seemed to lose her nerve because she turned and walked down the hallway to the staircase. A few minutes later, she yelled, "Bye Liz!" up the stairs before leaving. I could hear her car starting up and I didn't move until the sound of her motor had faded away. I knew it was way too early to call the Clearwaters, despite how much I wanted to, so I sat down at my desk and finally got to work on all of my homework.

The day went on like that. I actually managed to get ahead on my homework, finishing a paper for English that wasn't actually due until we got back from Christmas break. And that wasn't even the worst part. I had tried to call Seth an embarrassing number of times and I was now convinced that he was avoiding me. Each time I was told that he was sleeping, or out patrolling, or over at Sam's house. By the time the afternoon rolled into evening, I felt incredibly pathetic, but I was also angry. I couldn't believe that he was avoiding me, shouldn't it have been the other way around? After all, I was the one who had been firmly rejected and subsequently humiliated. I was so mad that I decided I wasn't going to call him anymore. If he didn't want to speak to me then I would simply stop hounding him like the pathetic ex-girlfriend who refused to see when things were over. Of course, I knew we weren't actually breaking up, the imprinting would see to that, but I decided he would have to work really hard to make up for the way he was acting now. After my last phone call to him, I plopped myself in front of the television and watched old shark week programs. I was so irritated that I actually found myself rooting for the deadly beast as it attacked clueless beach-goers.

Emma found me like that when she walked in later that night with numerous shopping bags hanging off her arm and a pizza box in her hands. "Oh, I love this show!" she said brightly as a giant shark jumped out of the water with a seal in its mouth.

I whirled around. "Jeez, what did you buy?" I asked, a little surprised by the amount of crap she had with her.

She shrugged as she dropped her plastic bags by the staircase. "I needed some new scrubs," she said. "My old ones were getting pretty gross. Now come on, let's have dinner before this gets cold."

We ate in the living room, both of us absorbed in the television show, although that didn't stop Emma from trying to make conversation. "What did you do all day?" she asked.

"Just homework," I replied through a mouthful of the greasy pepperoni pizza she had brought home.

"You haven't talked to Seth at all?" she asked curiously.

It was a testament to how angry I was at him that I didn't wince at the sound of his name. "No."

"What's going on with you two?" She was looking at me in concern again and it was only making me angrier.

"Nothing," I said defensively.

"Well, you haven't been together all weekend and –" she tried to explain but I interrupted her.

"We don't have to be together all the time, Aunt Emma," I said, a hard edge in my voice. "We do have other things we have to do."

She seemed a little put out by my rebuff and didn't speak again until she was shoving a small silver cell phone into my hands when I got up to leave. "I didn't get any kind of special plan with it," she said. "It's for emergencies only, alright?"

"Right," I nodded, feeling a little guilty at the sullen tone of her voice. "I'm sorry I snapped earlier," I muttered, looking down at my black and white sneakers. "It's just, you know… all that homework kind of wore on my patience."

I looked up to see a huge smile on her face. "It's fine, Lizzie," she said softly. "Don't worry about it."

I returned her smile. "Goodnight."

"See you in the morning," she said as I raced up the stairs to my bedroom.

I was hoping I would find Alice waiting for me in my bedroom. There were so many things I wanted to ask her, most of them revolving around the strange psychic power we shared. Plus, I knew I would be able to stay up and avoid having another gruesome nightmare if she were there. Despite how much I actually liked the small vampire, I knew I wouldn't be able to relax enough to sleep in her presence. My room was empty, however, so I found a computer game that would occupy my mind. It didn't matter, though. I tried to fight sleep as hard as I could but eventually I put my head down on the keyboard and drifted off to the world of monsters.

----

The dream was very much the same as the one I had the night before. There were stone-like body parts scattered across the dirt, and a grey wolf was lying motionless in a dark pool of blood. Another wolf, grey again with black spots, was lying a few feet away, although I could not tell if he was dead or merely unconscious. It seemed like there were more vampires too. An older one, he looked completely ancient with his long white hair and chalky pale skin, stood on the other side of the clearing. He was not fighting, instead he was watching from the tree line with his face twisted into a sneer. It was hard to tell which side the other vampires were fighting on. There were two blondes with golden eyes fighting beside Alice so I assumed they were with the Cullens, at least. There were two olive-skinned vampires, a dark-haired couple, that were circling a woman in a dark grey cloak. There was another couple with blood red eyes and I could not tell if they were with the Italians or not, although they ignored a chocolate brown wolf as it ran past them.

I scanned the battlefield for the tan wolf, scared of what I might see. It didn't matter that I was angry with him, I simply had to know that he was okay in this version of the future. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw him standing, fighting those creepy vampire children alongside Edward Cullen. It was very strange, the girl was glaring at them but there was a hint of panic on her face. Clearly her weird, torturous stare was not working properly. It probably had something to do with the beautiful brunette that could only be the infamous Bella standing beside them. A little further away, the curly haired toddler was sitting on top of a russet wolf as if it were a pony as it darted into the woods. It seemed like there was destruction everywhere I looked. I wanted to help but I wasn't exactly sure how.

Suddenly I was being shaken awake by a pair of cold stone-like hands. I had never been so happy to see a vampire in my life. "Are you alright?" Alice asked, her golden eyes wide in concern. "You were whimpering."

I shook my head. "I had the dream again."

"Oh," she said. Her face brightened at the mention of my dreaded nightmares. "Was it the same as last night?"

"Kind of," I said, squeezing my eyes shut. The last thing I wanted to do was think about the horrific scene I had just witnessed but it was the only way I could actually help. "There were more vampires there. I think they might have been on your side but it was hard to tell, there was so much going on at once."

"What did they look like?" she asked. It seemed like I had piqued her interest with the mention of new vampires.

"There were two blondes with the same golden eyes that you have," I said. "And a couple with black hair that had yellow eyes too. And there were two other vampires with red eyes that weren't fighting the wolves… but that doesn't make any sense. Do you have friends that eat humans?"

Alice frowned. "The majority of vampires drink human blood. It's only us and a smaller clan up in Denali that drink from animals."

"Oh," I said. That didn't sound too promising. I was suddenly glad I had never had the misfortune of running into a vampire until I came here. "There was an old guy too but he wasn't fighting. He just kind of stood off to the side and looked angry."

"An old man?" she sounded alarmed. "What did he look like? Was he human or a vampire?"

"Vampire, I think. I don't really remember. I didn't pay that much attention to him."

She frowned and rubbed her forehead. "This doesn't make any sense. It sounds like you're talking about the Denali clan but Irina has already refused to help the wolves." She started pacing the room again. "Maybe Tanya has decided to come down anyways. But I don't know who else would come help us. And this old man…" She stopped suddenly and whirled around to face me. "Were you able to see his eyes? Was he wearing a cloak like the others?"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to will myself to remember. "I can't, I'm sorry," I said. It was all very foggy, as if my mind was trying to block it all out.

She sighed in frustration. "Okay, we can go back to that later. Can you tell when this is going to happen?"

I had never really thought of when this awful nightmare would actually take place. "I don't…" I said, trying to make sense of it. "How can I tell?"

"Is there snow on the ground? How's the light? Is there anyway you can make out where the sun is in the sky?"

I tried to concentrate but I couldn't think of anything that would answer her questions. The only things that really stood out in my mind were the actions of the sandy wolf. "I'm sorry, Alice," I said.

She sighed in frustration. "We need Edward."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"He can see it in your memory and hopefully make sense of the new developments."

"Well, where is he?" I asked, eager to make sense of what I had dreamt.

She looked at me in confusion. "He was talking to Carlisle when I left."

"Let's go, then," I said, getting up. She raised an eyebrow at me. "What? I want to know what's going on just as much as you do." Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't be able to sleep and have another one of those nightmares if I was out with Alice.

She looked at me for a moment, probably deliberating if she should go or not, before nodding. "Okay," she said. "Get on my back."

"What?!" I said, alarmed. I was a few inches taller than her and I knew I definitely weighed more than she did. "Won't I hurt you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go, Liz." I bit my lip before tentatively jumping on her back, trying to brace myself so I would be prepared when I knocked her over. But it was like jumping onto a rock or something. She grabbed my legs and took off, forcing me to tighten my hold around her neck. She jumped out the window and I made a mental note to close the screen on it before the vampires let a bunch of bugs into my bedroom. As soon as she hit the ground, she took off like a flash. She was running so fast that the trees blurred as she passed them. It was like I was going over one hundred miles per hour on a motorcycle in the forest. And it was fucking terrifying.

She stopped in the middle of the woods and dropped my legs. "Okay, we have to stop here because I'm not sure if Bella's in the house or back in her cottage."

"Right," I said, finally able to loosen my grip around her neck. My head felt light and I was sure I had motion sickness, my stomach was rolling the same way it did whenever I went out on the ocean in one of my friend's boats. "And she would eat me if she were there and I suddenly showed up."

"It's not like she could help it," Alice said in defense of her friend. I raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "Just wait here. I'll be right back."

"Do you really think it's a good idea to leave me alone in the middle of the woods where there are actual people-eating vampires on the loose?" I asked, suddenly feeling very afraid. It was so dark and I couldn't help feeling like someone was watching me through the trees.

She shook her head. "They went back to Italy after their encounter with the wolves to discuss what happened with Caius. I can still see them there so they haven't even made any kind of decision about coming here."

"But what about – " I started to ask, grabbing onto her stone arm, but she interrupted me.

"Don't worry, Liz," she said, removing my hand easily, as if I weren't holding on to her with all of my strength. "I'm not going that far. I just have to get within hearing range of both houses. You'll be fine, I promise."

"But you can't see me, Alice!" I said as she took off into the woods, moving faster than my eyes could see. "If I get eaten by a bear, I'm holding you personally responsible!" I tried not to be too loud, hoping not to draw attention to myself while being loud enough so that she could hear me. Although, who knows, maybe she would have heard me if I whispered it. I still wasn't sure about all of their crazy senses.

She was right, though. She was back quickly and I couldn't deny how much safer I felt when she was around, which was a little ironic. "He should be here soon. He was a little occupied with Bella."

"Oh… gross, Alice," I said, wrinkling my nose.

She laughed. "Not like that. He was trying to help her control her power, although I find it interesting that your mind went there first."

"I'm sure," I muttered, rolling my eyes at her. It's not my fault that she made it sound dirtier than it was. I could feel my face getting hot and I knew that Alice could tell I was blushing, despite the fact that it was so dark.

There was a strange rustling noise and Edward appeared seemingly out of nowhere. "What's going on, Alice?" he asked, sounding panicked.

"She had another dream," Alice explained.

"And?" Edward asked, sounding almost disappointed. "Do you know when they're coming?"

"No," Alice said, her frustration evident in her voice. "She's having trouble focusing." I bit my lip, feeling ashamed. I wished I could help them, I really did, but even when I was pissed at him, Seth took precedent over the fate of the small town I was actually starting to like.

"That's completely understandable, Liz," Edward said. "Can you remember the whole dream?"

"I think so," I said, trying to remember exactly how it started. I could feel him looking at me, as if staring would somehow make it easier to read my mind, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I knew he was watching so I tried to include it all, the creepy old man that watched from the sidelines, the new vampires that seemed to be fighting on our side, the wolves that lay injured on the ground and the stand off between Edward, Seth, and the creepy vampire children.

When I finally finished, Edward sighed. "That was Caius," he said to Alice. "Carlisle was right, he must be the one orchestrating this. But I can't see him actually coming to Forks for this. And you were right, too, that was Tanya."

"But I thought –" Alice started to say before Edward interrupted her.

"Irina wasn't there," he said, shaking his head.

"Can you tell when it's going to happen?" Alice asked anxiously.

"There's no snow on the ground but it doesn't seem like anything is in bloom yet," he replied. "So it must be before spring but it's impossible to pinpoint when exactly."

"If only there was a calendar in the clearing," I muttered sarcastically.

They didn't pay any attention to what I was saying, though. "What are we going to do?" Alice asked. It was clear that the fact that she couldn't see the fight was bothering her.

Edward sighed again. "I don't know, Alice. It might be easier to pinpoint the exact date once they finally make the decision to come." Alice wasn't satisfied with that, apparently, because she didn't even bother responding. "I've got to get back to Bella," he said. "And you should get her home. Goodbye, Liz."

"Bye," I said, although he was gone before I even opened my mouth.

"Come on," Alice said, crouching down in front of me so it would be easier to climb on her back.

"I'm sorry, Alice," I said. "I wish I could help more."

She turned around to look at me. "You are helping, Liz."

"No, I'm not," I said, unable to look her in the eye. "I can't even tell when this is going to fucking happen."

"But you've helped us learn that Caius is the one behind this," she said. "If Aro and Marcus do not agree with him, it might be easier to stop all of this. And if Tanya and her family are even thinking about helping us, then I'm sure we'll be able to convince them to come down."

I didn't really see how that was much help, though. Knowing all of that wouldn't help us prepare for it at all. "Come on," I said. "I better get home before something tries to eat me."

Alice laughed before crouching down in front of me again. "Don't worry, Liz. You're safe with me."

I had trouble completely believing that, but that just might be my prejudice against the vampires. I climbed onto her back and she took off. "What did you mean before, about controlling Bella's power?" I asked, trying to take my mind off the fact that we were going over one hundred miles per hour through the trees.

"They're trying to make it extend beyond just Edward and Nessie," Alice said. "If she could somehow get it around all of us and the wolves, the Volturi's superior abilities would be rendered completely useless."

"Oh," I said, suddenly hoping Bella would be able to get control of her power before those Italians showed up. She stopped in front of the house and dropped me unceremoniously to my feet. "Uh, Alice, my room is on the other side of the house."

She looked at me in confusion. "I know that."

"What?" I asked. "You go down but not up? I can't just walk in the front door, I don't know the new alarm code."

"Oh, your aunt should be able to help you with that," Alice said cheerfully. "I'm pretty sure she's waiting for you in your bedroom."

"Wait, what?" I was hoping desperately that she was mistaken. If Emma knew that I had snuck out, I was dead. I was more than dead, actually. I'm pretty sure she would get one of her doctor friends to bring me back at the last second just so she could kill me again.

"I can smell a human in your room, so unless you're being robbed again –"

"Oh shit!" I said, cutting her off as I ran in the house.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry, this took me a lot longer than I expected to post but I hope you all enjoy it anyways! :) A huge thank you goes out to everyone that reviewed the last chapter and to Ledybug for betaing this one! Unfortunately, I won't be able to post the next chapter until after New Year's, and since it is still Christmas where I am, I've decided to give you guys a little present in the form of a preview of the next chapter (remember, it is unbetaed so please ignore my horrible typos). Thanks for reading this and remember to review and let me know what you think!

* * *

_There was no sign of life inside the house and I started pounding on the door, hoping that someone was home so I wouldn't have to walk to Emily's in the cold rain. "Hold on!" someone yelled and I recognized Seth's voice right away. My breathing sped up and it felt like every nerve ending in my body was on high alert, longing to see him._

_When he opened the door, I took him in in the same way a starving man would look at a meal. He must have been sleeping because he was only wearing a pair of wrinkled black shorts and his hair was ruffled. He had been rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he opened the door but his face seemed to light up when he saw me. "Liz!" he said, the return of his smile brightening up the rainy day. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the rain and into his arms. He held me tightly against his bare chest and buried his face in my damp hair. I could feel him breathing me in and I did the same, letting that familiar scent of salt water and pine wash over me. "God, I've missed you," he whispered, rubbing my back with out of his overly large hands. The feel of it gave me goosebumps, even through my wet raincoat._

_I wasn't sure what came over me then. Maybe I had been expecting something else, an injury or some cartoon-like villain with a handlebar moustache holding him hostage, some kind of obvious reason for his absence. The fact that he was perfectly fine and hadn't even bothered to try and contact me in the past six days, that I had to come to him when it should have been the other way around, only pissed me off. I pushed him forcefully and he stumbled back, looking at me in shock. "What the hell, Seth?" I said, my voice a lot louder than I intended. "Where the hell have you been?"_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Things with Emma actually went a lot better than I expected, due to the fact I was still alive. Unfortunately, my quality of life had gone down considerably. She had grounded me pretty much indefinitely. I was no longer allowed to use the telephone and the only time I was allowed out of the house was when I went to school. It was a little strange. I had never been grounded before and it was weird how restricted I suddenly felt. I mean, I never really used the phone anyways and since Seth was apparently not speaking to me, I didn't have anywhere to go but all of a sudden, I just had to get out of the house, or at least talk to someone.

The worst part of it was how mad Emma was. She wasn't able to let it go after she lectured me; in fact, she was still angry days later. She tried to spend as little time in the same room with me as possible, and when we were forced together, she avoided talking to me at all costs. I was pretty sure she was giving me the silent treatment. She had actually managed to make me feel ashamed and I found myself wishing that she would start pushing to hear about my relationship with Seth or even try to talk to me about birth control again. I had never been in this kind of situation before so I wasn't sure how to get her to forgive me. She wouldn't even talk to me so it's not like I could apologize or try to explain myself, although there's no way I could ever tell her where I had gone that night or why.

But it was starting to get to me. It had been three days since I came home to her fuming in my bedroom and Seth still hadn't made any attempt to talk to me. I had moved past angry into just plain confused. I didn't really think that what I had done had been all that bad but I was starting to wonder if I somehow managed to make him un-imprint or something. I wasn't even sure if that was possible but I did know that whatever had happened, it didn't work on me. I felt empty, like some giant part of me was missing, and every day without Seth only made the hole bigger. And the weird thing was that I wasn't even pissed off at how his absence was affecting me, I was just desperate to see him. The only thing stopping me from going to La Push and forcing him to talk to me was the fact that I didn't think my relationship with Emma could survive my sneaking out again.

I knew everyone could see how much I missed him, too. Despite the fact that she was doing her best to ignore me, I could tell that Emma was starting to get concerned with the way I was acting. In fact, I'm pretty sure she would have already tried to talk me into seeing some kind of psychiatrist if she were actually speaking to me. I knew Alice could see it as well. It would have been hard to ignore the fact that I spent most of my nights crying over him instead of sleeping. Thankfully, she was kind enough not to mention it.

My friends, however, were not that nice. Well, only one of them, actually. Sammy, Chase, and Will were perfectly fine leaving me alone to work out my feelings. Lydia, however, kept pushing me to see him. She even tried to get me to sneak off to La Push with her, although the offer was less than desirable considering she didn't have a car. Luckily, she was out today so I was allowed to watch the torrential rain in peace while my friends debated the state of her license around the cafeteria table.

"There's no way," Chase said. "Have you seen the weather? She's a mediocre driver in the best of times but there's no way she's going to pass the test in this rain."

"Oh, that's rich coming from you," Sammy said, coming to the defense of her friend. "Didn't you run a stop sign the first time you took the test?"

He pursed his lips at that and muttered, "I passed the second time."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Chase," Sammy laughed.

"I'm sure she'll do great," Will added, putting his opinion into the mix.

Chase let out a hard laugh. "Have you ever even been in a car with Lydia?" Will shook his head. "Well, you should thank whatever god you accept for that."

"Oh, she is not that bad," Sammy said. "I helped her a lot with her parking problem. You just want her to do badly so you're not the only one to fail it the first time!"

He scowled at her before turning to me. "What do you think, Liz?"

I turned away from the window and looked at my friends. "I don't know, I've never seen her drive."

"Lucky you," Chase muttered.

"But I thought she did well in Driver's Ed," Will said, looking confused.

"Reading about it and actually driving are two completely different things," Chase pointed out. Sammy nodded in agreement, although she looked more than a little annoyed that she had to agree with him. Will looked a little disconcerted at that fact and Sammy tried to reassure him that he would be fine. Chase turned to me then and asked, "What about you, Liz? When will you be taking your driver's test?"

I shrugged. "I haven't even taken Driver's Ed yet."

He looked at me as if I had just grown another head. "Why not?"

"I never saw a need for it in Boston," I said. "We actually had a decent public transportation system. Plus, Boston drivers scared the shit out of me so I had no desire to get on the road with them." I smiled sadly at the memory. It was strange how I stopped feeling that weird longing for my hometown. Once, the fact that I was from Boston had been a vital part of who I was but now it felt like a distant memory that I would never get the chance to revisit.

Chase stared at me and I felt my face growing hot from his scrutiny. "He still hasn't called, has he?" he asked quietly, the pity starting to seep into his eyes.

I looked down at the sandwich I had barely eaten and shook my head. "No, he hasn't," I whispered.

"Have you even tried to call him?" Chase asked.

"No," I replied as I started to pull the crust off the rest of my lunch. "I don't want to piss Emma off even more."

Chase let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't you get it, Liz? You're supposed to sneak out, get in trouble, and then find loopholes in your punishment. It's all a part of being a teenager."

"Maybe for you," I said quietly, feeling the guilt starting to creep in again. "But Emma was nice enough to take me in, I can't keep repaying her like this."

"Yeah, she took you in by taking you away from your home," he pointed out, repeating exactly what I had said when I first got to Forks. I felt my face get hot again, this time in shame. I definitely didn't feel that way anymore. Chase realized I wasn't going to say anything and frowned. "You know what? I'm going to make sure you see Seth today so you can talk everything out. Maybe then you won't be such a downer."

I snorted. "Good luck with that," I said skeptically. I knew there was no way he was going to break me out of my prison.

He was strangely quiet after that. He hadn't even joined in with the congratulations five minutes later when Lydia called Sammy's cellphone, screeching about how she had passed the test and gotten her license, nor did he defend himself when Sammy brought up the fact that he had failed his test the first time again. I wasn't complaining though. I actually enjoyed the fact that he had given up his role of pushing me to talk about my feelings while Lydia was gone. He spent the rest of the day like that, leaving me alone to stare out the window in peace. We didn't even speak again until he was dropping me off after school.

"See you tomorrow," I said, forcing a smile as I got out of the car. I could see a strange look on his face and I dropped the fake cheerful act, knowing that he could see right through it. I turned and headed for the front door, wondering how long my new friends would put up with my strange behavior. Of course, I knew it would be better for them if they used this as an excuse to kick me out of their lives, what with all the mythical beings I seemed to draw in like some kind of supernatural magnet. Still, the thought of it hurt almost as bad as Seth's absence. I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard the slamming of a car door. I turned to see Chase standing beside his car and whispered, "What are you doing? You know I'm grounded."

"I am saving you from yourself," he said determinedly before practically marching through my front door.

I chased after him, hoping to stop him before he ran into Emma. "You know you can't come in! You're going to get me –" I stopped short when I reached the living room. Emma was sitting on the couch with a thick book in her hands and Sophie's head in her lap. She looked curiously from Chase to me, my face almost white in the terror of upsetting her, and then back to Chase.

"Hello Miss O'Brien," Chase said politely, his eyes shooting warily to my terrified face before returning to my aunt. "I'm sorry to bother you like this but Liz and I have this really important project we have to do on Chaucer and we really need to go to the library to do some research. Liz was too scared to ask if she could go but this counts for so much of our final grade that I figured I should take matters into my own hands."

She looked shocked as she turned to me. "Is that true, Liz?" I tried to look as innocent as possible as I nodded. Something in her face changed then; she just looked so tired that I almost confessed to the fact that there was no English project. However, I was very glad I had been able to hold it in when she said, "Then of course you can go. Just try to be home by six, alright?"

"Okay," I practically shouted as I rushed out the door, not wanting her to change her mind before I left. Chase followed behind me, looking ridiculously pleased with himself. I waited until we were back in the car before punching him in the shoulder as hard as I could.

"Ow!" he yelled, his hand immediately going up to rub the spot where I had hit him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked. "You almost gave me a heart attack, barging in there like that!"

"Hey, I got you out of the house, didn't I?" He pointed out as he pulled out of my driveway and headed towards the main road.

"If she ever finds out that I lied to her…," I trailed off, imagining how much it would hurt her and all the horrors of the harsher punishment she would no doubt inflict.

"She would chalk it up to you being a teenager," Chase rolled his eyes at me. "It's going to be alright, Liz. Don't get your panties in such a twist."

"Leave my panties out of it," I muttered. I started to laugh then, the fact that I had the afternoon away from the house that felt more like a cage finally hitting me. "You're crazy. You know that, right?"

He smirked. "Yes, I have heard that before."

I couldn't help smiling as I asked, "So where are we really going?"

He looked at me like I was stupid. "La Push, of course."

I could literally feel the blood draining from my face. "What?" I asked, my voice taking on an unpleasant squeaky quality. "Why?"

"Oh come on, Liz," Chase said, throwing one of his hands up in exasperation. "You can't act like not talking to him isn't killing you."

But whether it was killing me or not wasn't the point. Seth was the one who had pushed me away. I shouldn't have to chase him down for an explanation. The only reason for his behavior I could come with was that he had been mistaken about the whole imprinting thing. And if that was the case, then this was a conversation that I would much rather avoid at all costs. Chase was looking at me in concern, no doubt the result of the terrified look on my face, and I couldn't help voicing my fears. "What if he doesn't want to see me?" I whispered.

Chase scoffed at that. "Of course he wants to see you."

"You don't know that," I muttered, wishing he would just turn the car around. I would much rather spend my afternoon stuck in an awkward silence with Emma than confront Seth.

"Yes, I do," Chase replied, looking at me as if he thought I was crazy. "Have you seen the way that boy looks at you? Believe me, he wants to see you."

I bit my lip, not knowing what to say to that. Chase didn't know what had happened so it was easy for him to be so sure. However, I wasn't certain if I believed any of it. It didn't take us that long to reach La Push and I directed Chase to Seth's house even though I still had the strong urge to jump out of the car and run back to Emma's house. It wouldn't have taken long, I'm sure I could have made it back by dinnertime… at least, if I didn't pull something. The windows behind the familiar red shutters were dark and I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, damn. I guess he's not home," I said, trying, and failing, to sound disappointed.

Chase rolled his eyes before leaning across me to open the car door. "You better get out of this car before I push you out."

I was a little surprised at how forceful he was being. "But what if he really isn't home?"

"Then sit there and wait for him to come home," Chase said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

I pursed my lips, knowing I had no other option. I guess if he wasn't there, I would just have to go to Sam's house. I got out of the car but before I closed the door, I leaned back in and said, "If you're not back here in time to get me home by six o'clock, I will kill you and sell your body parts for cash."

He laughed. "I didn't know there was a market for that, but okay. I'll meet you at that store up the road."

I glared at him for another second before slamming the door. He backed out of Seth's driveway quickly before I could change my mind. I sighed before running up to Seth's doorstep, knocking tentatively on the door. I figured it would be best to do it quickly, like pulling off a band aid. Plus, it would be nice to get out of the rain. There was no sign of life inside the house and I started pounding on the door, hoping that someone was home so I wouldn't have to walk to Emily's in the cold downpour. "Hold on!" someone yelled and I recognized Seth's voice right away. My breathing sped up and it felt like every nerve ending in my body was on high alert, longing to see him.

When he opened the door, I took him in the same way a starving man would look at a home-cooked meal. He must have been sleeping because he was only wearing a pair of wrinkled black shorts and his hair was ruffled. He had been rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when he opened the door but his face seemed to light up when he saw me. "Liz!" he said, the return of his smile brightening up the rainy day. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the rain and into his arms. He held me tightly against his bare chest and buried his face in my damp hair. I could feel him breathing me in and I did the same, letting that familiar scent of salt water and pine wash over me. "God, I've missed you," he whispered, rubbing my back with one of his overly large hands. The feel of it gave me goose bumps, even through my wet raincoat.

I wasn't sure what came over me then. Maybe I had been expecting something else, an injury or some cartoon-like villain with a handlebar moustache holding him hostage, some kind of obvious reason for his absence. The fact that he was perfectly fine and hadn't even bothered to try and contact me in the past six days, that I had to come to him when it should have been the other way around, only pissed me off. I pushed him forcefully and he stumbled back, looking at me in shock. "What the hell, Seth?" I said, my voice a lot louder than I intended. "Where the hell have you been?"

He looked at me in confusion. "What do you mean? I've been right here."

"Exactly!" I shouted, his answer only making me angrier. I knew that I would only hurt myself if I tried to hit him so I took my backpack off my shoulder and swung it at him.

He easily dodged out of the way, his eyes wide in surprise. "Liz, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong, Seth?" I asked, sarcastically. "Really? You really have to ask that?"

His face fell as he remembered what exactly had happened the last time we saw each other. "I'm sorry about Friday night but..."

Suddenly, I wasn't so interested in hearing his excuses. "You can't just reject me like that and then not speak to me for almost a week! I mean, God, if you want to break up with me then grow a pair and just do it! Don't avoid me like some kind of child!"

"Whoa, hold on a second," he said, tentatively stepping within my reach. When he saw that I wasn't going to hit him again, he stood in front of me and put his hand on my cheek, tilting my head up to look him in the eye. "Who said I wanted to break up with you?"

Looking into those warm brown eyes seemed to make my anger completely disappear. I could feel other emotions taking over, and even though I tried to hold them back, my eyes started to water. I tried to look away, not wanting him to see my tears but he had a firm hold on my face and I couldn't move. "It's the only logical reason I can come up with," I said, keeping my voice low so it wouldn't crack and give me away.

His eyes took on the familiar intensity that made my stomach flip. "Liz," he said, his voice soft and intense. "I love you so much. I'm sorry but… you're stuck with me."

"Then where have you been?" I repeated my question.

He opened his mouth to respond but stopped when we both heard the crunching of tires on gravel. I looked out the window to see a beat up black Ford parked in Seth's driveway. "Come on," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me down a hallway to a white door with one of those novelty street signs that said 'Seth's Parking Only.' He opened it quickly and shoved me inside. "Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly at me. "If my mom knows you're here, she'll tell Emma and I don't want you to get in more trouble. I'll be right back." He kissed me quickly on the cheek before closing the door in my face. I could hear him talking to his mother and I took that time to look around his bedroom.

It was exactly what I expected a teenage boy's room to look like, even though I had never been in one before. The walls were dark green, although it was hard to make out the color behind all of the posters of cars and sports teams. There was a small TV in the corner with some kind of gaming console and a couple video games piled haphazardly on it. A big bed took up most of the room, and the black sheets were bunched up, indicating that it had been recently slept in. I made my way to it, stepping carefully over the clothes on the floor and sitting on the edge. Thankfully, I didn't have to sit there long before Seth came back, closing the door softly behind him.

"We should be okay," he whispered. "She's going over to Billy's in a couple minutes."

I ignored what he said, not really caring if I got in more trouble at the moment. "How did you know I was grounded?" I asked curiously.

"Edward told me," he said, sitting down next to me on his bed. "He said Emma thinks you snuck out to see me. I tried to stay away so you wouldn't get into even more trouble."

"You could have at least called," I muttered, still feeling more upset than angry.

He wiped one of my tears away. "I thought you weren't allowed to use –"

"Oh, fuck that, Seth," I interrupted. "I needed to hear from you. God, I thought…" I turned away and wiped at my eyes, not wanting to tell him all of the awful things I thought had happened to him.

He pulled me onto his lap and cradled my head to his chest. "I'm so sorry, Liz."

"Why didn't you at least come over?" I asked, not bothering to hide how upset I was.

"Sam doesn't want me going into Cullen territory anymore," he explained.

I pulled back to look at his face, feeling a little confused. "I thought the whole pull of the imprint thing trumped the Alpha's orders."

He grinned at that. "So you were listening when I told you all that werewolf stuff!" I rolled my eyes at him and he continued, "It does, but he's been giving me so much to do around the rez that I haven't had the time to go to your house."

"What an asshole," I muttered, hugging myself closer to him. He chuckled and tightened his arms around me. "I missed you so much," I whispered before planting a small kiss at the base of his throat.

"Me too," he said, his voice low and husky. "I've been a bit of a mess the past couple days." He traced his nose up the side of my neck as he said that before kissing the spot under my ear. My goose bumps were back and as much as I wanted to see where this would go, I knew we had more to talk about. I pulled away and turned myself around so I was facing him, blushing slightly when I realized I was straddling his lap. He cradled my cheek in his hand and brushed his thumb over the blood that had rushed to my face. "What is it?" he asked curiously.

"Seth, we have to talk about what happened." He nodded, his cheeks getting slightly darker with his blush. I decided to come right out and say it, even though my voice was shaking in fear when I asked, "Do you really find me that repulsive?"

"What?" he asked, actually sounding a little angry. "Why would you even think that?"

"Well, you did practically run away from me," I pointed out.

"No, Liz," he said forcefully, his eyes so intense that I couldn't look away from them. "You are not repulsive, at all. You are beautiful and… sexy," he smiled at me sheepishly, as if he thought I would take offense to that. "And I want you so much every single time I see you that it honestly scares me."

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against his, a little frightened of the emotion I saw in his eyes. He wasn't making any sense, though. "Then what happened? If I pushed you too far, or if I was going too fast, all you had to do was tell me. You didn't have to run away like that."

"The whole imprinting thing complicates it, though," he said.

I opened my eyes to look at him, honestly curious about what this had to do with the whole werewolf thing. "How?"

"It's hard for me to deny you anything, Liz," he replied.

I immediately felt bad. It wasn't right for me to force him into doing anything he didn't want just because of the stupid imprinting thing. "Oh," I said. "Okay, well, I guess we can take it slowly, if you want." He smiled softly at me and started kissing my neck. I pulled away slightly despite my better judgment and I could hear his sigh of disappointment. "Come on, Seth. We really have to talk about this."

"But why right now?" he asked, sounding a little bit like a sulking child. "I haven't seen you in so long, and I don't think we'll be unsupervised in my bedroom like this again for a long time."

"That's kind of what got us into this whole mess, if you didn't notice," I pointed out. "Besides, I'm curious. Are you like, holding out for marriage or something?"

"No," he answered, raising an eyebrow at me. "Why would you think that?" I shrugged. "I just…," he sighed and ran his hand through his messy black hair, "I don't want us to rush into anything that you'll regret later, that's all."

I groaned as I got off his lap. It was something I had suspected; that he was doing this to protect me, although who knows exactly what he was protecting me from. "You can't do that, Seth! Don't push me away just because you think it's what's best for me. I'm a big girl; I can make decisions for myself." I started to pace around his room. Nothing annoyed me more when he did this weird protective thing. Granted, maybe I did need protection from blood-thirsty vampires but I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself in all other aspects of my life. "Especially when it comes to things like this. I may not know what I'm doing but I am capable of deciding if I want it or not." I turned and glared at him.

He was staring at me, his eyes sad. "But what if I push you too far? I don't want you to ever regret anything we –," he cut himself off and looked down at his hands, clearly uncomfortable by his vulnerability.

All of my annoyance disappeared at his words. It was a little pathetic, the way this boy affected me, but I didn't think I would ever want to give it up either. I walked back over to him and put my hand on his cheek. "You don't have to worry about that. Believe me, I love you far too much to ever regret anything that happens between us." The words simply came out before I could stop to think about what I was saying, but they were the truth. I had always been scared of love, of giving someone that much power over me, but it was something Seth already had, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. I gasped, a little frightened by the absolute truth of my words. I always thought love was like a semi, something you couldn't help noticing when it came right at you but this… this had snuck up on me before I even realized what was going on.

Seth looked up at me; his mouth was open in shock but quickly turning into that beautiful smile that I adored. "Say that again," he said, his voice low. I could only look down at my feet as the blood rushed to my face. I felt like such an asshole, I couldn't believe that I had just blurted it out like that. What a way to suck the romance out of what were probably the three most important words I could ever say to someone else. He put his hand on my waist and pulled me back onto his lap, my face growing even hotter as I was put back in the same awkward position as before. "Please," he whispered, leaning his forehead against mine.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, come on, Seth. You know I love you, you don't..." I was going to say he didn't have to embarrass me by making me repeat it, but he kissed me hard, effectively shutting me up. His lips were forceful on mine and I responded eagerly. I guess this was the next best thing to him actually saying it back. The familiar light-headed feeling came over me and it felt like the sun was finally coming out. I couldn't believe exactly how much I had missed this. And it didn't even matter that we hadn't resolved anything because I was sick of being upset with him and I could no longer keep my hands to myself. He bit down on my lip and I let out a small moan, unable to keep it in. The sound did something to Seth, I'm not sure what it was but I liked it. His hands went to my waist and he pulled me right up against him while he kissed my neck. "Seth," I gasped, and I was a little disappointed when he pulled away to look at me. "What's gotten in to you?"

He smiled before kissing me again, softly this time. "I love you too," he whispered against my lips. It felt like my heart was doing back flips as I leaned in to kiss him, pulling away only when I couldn't hold my smile back anymore. I moved down to his neck, biting it gently and he hissed.

"Sorry," I muttered, my lips moving against his skin.

"No, I liked it," he said. He grabbed my waist again, holding it tightly as I went back to kissing and nipping at his neck.

His hands moved under my shirt and staring drifting upwards, setting my skin on fire. He must have been doing it unconsciously because they whipped back down quickly once he realized what he was doing and he started playing with the hem of my sweatshirt. I just couldn't ignore it, either. It seemed like he was holding back on my account even though I had asked him not to. Obviously, I was going to have to take matters into my own hands. I grabbed his chin and forced him to look me in the eye. "Listen, Seth. If I go too far or push you too much, just let me know. But from here on out, I am doing exactly what I want. I don't need your protection right now, okay?" He didn't look entirely convinced but he nodded. "Okay," I said, taking a deep breath to steel myself before I reached down and took my sweatshirt and t-shirt off in one movement. He didn't say anything, he just looked at me in astonishment. I could tell that he was determined to keep his eyes on my face, although they were drifting further south. The silence lengthened and my confidence decreased significantly as he continued to just sit and stare. Maybe I had read the situation wrong. "Are you… am I…oh God," I stuttered, feeling really stupid. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to get up. I needed to get my shirt back on before this got even more awkward.

"No," he said forcefully. His hands went to the small of my back, holding me in place. "You're perfect." His voice was a low reverent whisper that made my stomach feel like it was rising up into my chest. He kissed a line across my clavicle, his fingers burning a pattern on the soft skin of my stomach. Every pass of his hands brought them up higher and even though I wasn't really doing anything, I suddenly found it hard to breathe. He whispered my name against my skin, his hot breath giving me goose bumps, and I lost the little control I had over myself. I rocked my hips down onto his while grabbing his face roughly and pulling it up to mine. I kissed him hard, my lips moving against his even as he moaned. There was no doubt now that he wanted this just as much as I did; I could feel _him_, stiff against my jeans. His hands rested tentatively on my black cotton bra, and my panting only got worse. I would have been ashamed if he wasn't breathing just as hard as I was.

I wanted to encourage him, to let him know that I was perfectly fine with the direction we were heading in, but I wasn't sure how. It didn't matter, though, because as soon as his hands started moving, the door swung open and I heard a gasp.

"Shit!" I said, my arms quickly going up to cover my chest as I jumped off his lap. It seemed like the entire world was against us getting to second base. I was too scared to look behind me and see the horrified look on his mother's face so I knelt down beside the bed, out of sight, under the pretense of sifting through Seth's dirty clothes on the floor so I could find my shirt. Emma was going to lock me in my room after this.

"Leah!" Seth yelled, jumping to his feet as well. "Don't you know how to knock?"

I don't think I could describe the immense amount of relief I felt when I turned around and saw Seth's sister looking between the two of us in a strange mixture of shock and revulsion. "Oh my God," she muttered before backing out of the room.

Seth strode over to the door and slammed it before turning back to me. "I'm so sorry, Liz," he said.

I shook my head. "It's fine," I replied, trying to smile, although my heart was racing a little too fast for that. "I should go, anyways. Emma thinks I'm at the library working on a project and she'll be pissed if I'm not home soon." He nodded before grabbing my shirt and sweatshirt off the floor and handing them to me. He pulled me into a tight hug before I could put them on, though. The feeling of his warm skin against mine made me gasp. "I'm going to miss you," I said, kissing his bare shoulder.

"Me too," he replied, his lips pressing against my forehead.

I pulled away then and wiped at my eyes. It felt like it would a lifetime before I saw him again and I wanted to grab onto him and never let go. "Well, then you should tell Sam to fuck off every once in a while so you can come see me," I pointed out as I pulled my shirt on.

"And you should stop getting in trouble with Emma so you can come to La Push more often," he smiled.

I laughed at that. "You do realize that was your precious vampires' fault, right?"

He opened his mouth to reply but stopped when the front door slammed. His muscle tensed up and he pushed me towards the window. "You have to go." I could hear his mother calling his name so I kissed him quickly before opening his window and climbing out. I had to hold in a laugh as I took off into the trees behind his house; it was nice being able to leave like that, the window exit was usually reserved for supernatural beings. Being in the woods made me feel uncomfortable, though, and I hurried back to the main road before heading toward the general store.

Chase was waiting for me, his car parked right next to the small store, and he jumped in surprise when I climbed into the passenger seat. He eyed my wide smile and said, "I take it that everything's alright now?"

"Yeah," I answered, unable to stop smiling. "Turns out you were right."

"I usually am," he smirked, starting the car. We were back on the road heading to Forks when he said, "That was pretty quick for some afternoon delight," I punched his arm, putting all of my strength behind it, and the car swerved into the next lane. "Watch out!" he yelled. "You're going to get us killed!"

I ignored him, turning back to the road and shaking my head. "What is with you people and sex?" I muttered.

"Well, I'm obviously not getting any so I have to live vicariously through my friends," he said, letting out a laugh.

"Well, your vicarious life is going to be just as dry as your real one."

"You mean you guys haven't…," he stopped talking at the glare I sent him. Why was it such a shock that Seth and I hadn't done anything? I had just met him, for Christ's sake. "Sorry," he said quickly, as if he could read my mind. "It's just, the way you two look at each other…"

"Nope. We're both as pure as the driven snow," I answered.

He actually snorted at that. "Not for long."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to reply. He didn't need to know that it wouldn't even be true now if I had my way. But what was with my friends' strange interest in my sex life? Was that normal? My friends in Boston and I had never even broached the subject, but then again, none of us had ever really been in the position to get any. I was relieved when he pulled up in front of Emma's house. "See you tomorrow," I muttered before I rushed into the house, not wanting to have him pry any more into what I did or didn't do with Seth.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you all liked this chapter, especially since Seth is finally back! As always, a huge thank you goes out to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. And to telling me about the song that made her think of this story. I had never heard that song before but now I love it, haha. And a really big thank you goes out to Ledybug for betaing! I don't have any previews or extras for this chapter but I really hope you will review and let me know what you think anyways!

I do have a small question to ask, though. My beta's going to be unavailable for the next month so I was wondering if anyone would be interested in being some kind of temporary beta, because I really don't want to wait that long to post up the next chapter. So, if you're interested, let me know!


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Emma called me into the kitchen when I got back. She must have been listening for me and I was a little worried that she somehow knew that I had lied to her. But she smiled at me when I walked into the room and I tentatively smiled back. "Did you finish your project?" she asked.

My smiled faltered slightly. I looked away quickly, hoping she wouldn't notice, and said, "Yeah, almost. I've just got a little more research to do but I'm sure I can do that online."

"Oh," she said. She was looking at me strangely and it was starting to make me feel uncomfortable so I decided to change the subject.

"What are you cooking?" I asked, trying to dispel the awkward silence.

"Spaghetti and meatballs," she answered as she turned to the stove and started to stir one of the pots. When she spoke again, her voice was small and unsure. "Is it true, what that boy said earlier?"

My mind started to race. Did she know we didn't go to the library? Had she known this whole time? If she did, I wished she would just say it instead of making me squirm like this. I tried to keep a straight face as I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Were you scared to ask me if you could go to the library?" I nodded and she sighed. "I don't want you to be scared of me, Lizzie. I'm here to help you."

"I know," I said, a little confused. "It was just… I'm grounded so I didn't think –"

She interrupted me. "Schoolwork always comes first, you should know that. And you shouldn't be scared to talk to me, Liz. The whole reason why I grounded you was because you wouldn't tell me where you were going or what you were doing."

"Oh," I said, looking down at my hands. My cheeks were growing hot and I hoped she thought I was blushing because I felt ashamed, not because I was suddenly feeling very guilty for sneaking out to La Push earlier.

She frowned. "I know it's hard getting used to because of the way things were with your father but that is not how families are supposed to work! I made the same mistakes with Ben… there were so many secrets and –" her voice got caught in her throat. Her eyes were watering up and I walked over and put my hand on her shoulder. I didn't like seeing her like this and I wanted to help her, comfort her in some way, but I wasn't sure how. She pulled me into a hug and I fought the urge to instantly pull away from her.

We stood like that for what felt like hours, she didn't let me go until the water started to boil over. Once she was paying attention to the food on the stove, I said, "I'm sorry about Sunday. I wasn't sneaking out to see anyone, you know." She raised an eyebrow at me, confirming what Seth had said earlier; she had flipped out like that because she thought I snuck out to see him. I realized then that it was time to let Emma in on a little bit of the truth. "I keep having these awful nightmares and I just had to get out of the house, get some fresh air."

She looked shocked. "You shouldn't go walking around alone that late at night!"

I snorted. "Oh please, what's going to happen to me? This place makes Mayberry look like South Central." Besides, the only things that could actually hurt me were just as likely to come out in the day, although she had no idea about any of that.

She rolled her eyes at me and asked, "What kind of nightmares?"

I shook my head. "I don't… it's hard enough living through them at night, I don't want to think about them during the day."

"Is that why you've been so upset lately?" she asked curiously.

"Part of it," I muttered.

"Do you want to see someone about them?" she asked.

"What, like a shrink?" I had almost been expecting her to suggest that earlier in the week, when I had been acting to so depressed, but not in response to my dreams.

"Yeah," she replied. "There are a few really good ones at the hospital but I think Dr Reid is the most –"

I stopped her before she could list all of Dr Reid's qualifications and accomplishments. "I don't think so," I said. It would be an awful idea. I mean, what would I say? It's not like I could let him know that I was having trouble sleeping because I was having prophetic dreams about a rumble that was about to go down between my werewolf boyfriend's pack and a group of vampire royalty. I may not be well versed in the DSM-IV but I'm pretty sure that would get me a one-way ticket to a padded room. Although it might be nice to have someone, anyone, that I could talk to about all of this.

"Are you sure?" she asked. I nodded and she turned back to the stove. It was a few minutes before she spoke again. "What was the other part of it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"You said the nightmares were only part of the reason why you've been so down lately," she reminded me. "Now, either there's another reason why you were acting that way or I might have to take you to Dr. Reid after all."

I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe she was threatening me with a psychiatrist just so I would be more open with her. "It's just… something happened with Seth and I haven't been able to talk to him to clear it all up."

She frowned. "You really care about him, don't you?"

"I guess," I said, feeling a little uncomfortable discussing this with her.

"And you don't think that you might be moving a little too fast?"

I shrugged. "I can't really control the way I feel about him." She didn't say anything to that, just continued to tend to the food on the stove. The silence was comfortable, much different from the long, tense silences we had endured for most of the week. And as relieved as I was that things were finally back to normal, or as normal as they could be, there was still something weighing on me. This whole 'open and honest' thing could be nice. I didn't like hiding things and I hated lying to Emma. Just because I had been thrown into this whole supernatural world of lies didn't give me free reign to keep things from her, especially when she was trying so hard to have a normal relationship with me. I knew I was going to regret this as soon as I said it, but I also knew she should have the truth. "Aunt Emma, I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" she asked, her eyebrows raised at the guilty tone of my voice.

"I didn't go to the library today." I cringed and looked down at my hands as I waited for her to explode so I was more than a little surprised when she started to laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"I knew you were lying," she answered. "Come on, Liz, give me a little credit here. I've been around enough lying teenagers at the hospital to be able to spot one from a mile away."

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier?" I asked, my stomach felt like it was doing flips as I waited for her to calm down and start doling out punishments.

"Honestly, I wanted to see if you would tell me the truth," she said once she finally stopped laughing. I frowned, not really knowing what to say. I didn't really appreciate the game she had just played with me but I hoped I had at least passed her little test. "So where did you go?"

I bit my lip. If she had been that upset when she thought I had snuck out to see Seth before, she was bound to pissed off now. "La Push," I said, my voice meek as I prepared myself for more screaming.

She pursed her lips. "So did you work everything out with Seth?" I nodded. There was an edge to her voice and I could tell the screaming was coming. I didn't want to say anything to piss her off more. "Well, that's good," she said, "considering you won't be seeing him for a while."

"Oh, come on!" I said, my voice taking on an annoying whiney quality. "You can't just ban me from seeing him! Don't you think that would only cause me to sneak out more?"

I could tell I had said the wrong thing the second it left my mouth. She turned to face me, her eyes blazing. "Is that a threat?"

"No, of course not!" I backpedaled. "But it's not like I can see him at school. And I'm sure it's become obvious how it affects me when I can't see him."

She sighed. "And what am I supposed to do, let you off the hook for sneaking off and lying to me?"

"No, but maybe I could get designated visiting hours or phone calls… I mean, you can't just lock me in my room with no kind of human contact or else I would definitely need to see this Dr. Reid!"

She frowned. "I'll have to think about it." She turned back to the stove and turned one of the burners off before bringing the pot of noodles to the sink. "Come on, dinner's ready."

* * *

Time passed quickly after that. Despite the fact that Emma was mad at me for continually sneaking out, she did let up a little on my grounding. And things got so much better between the two of us. This whole being honest thing seemed to be working out well. She was a lot happier with me and I found that I actually enjoyed being able to tell her things. It was… nice, having someone who actually wanted to hear about my day, someone that kept my best interests in mind. It was getting easier to see her as a parent.

She had given me designated visiting hours, so I was able to see Seth much more than before. They were all supervised, of course, so we never really got to continue what we had started in his bedroom, but that didn't matter. I was happy enough to just be around him. It was kind of sad, I had fought so hard against being this girl, the one whose happiness could be measured by her proximity to her boyfriend, but I was perfectly content in that role now. My nightmares had only been getting worse, the vampires getting more brutal as they fought for their lives, and being with Seth was the only thing that calmed me down. And seeing him, touching him, was the only way I could be absolutely sure that he was safe. We were still having problems with Sam, though. He didn't like Seth crossing over into Cullen territory, even though the Cullens didn't mind in the slightest, and he tried everything he could to make Seth stay on the reservation. Luckily for me, he hadn't decided to use his Alpha power yet.

I didn't see Alice much in the two weeks that passed. She had checked in a couple times to see if anything had changed, but she spent most of her time at home. From what she had told me the few times she stopped by, the Cullens were playing host to few guests. According to her, a family of vampires had come down from Alaska and another two had shown up to help as well. She said they were discretely reaching out, trying to find others that would help them fight the Italians. I was actually worried about her, which was odd considering how much she still frightened me. I knew that the vampire royalty wouldn't be too happy if they found out she was planning an uprising.

I was more than a little surprised when I found her and Edward in my room one night after coming upstairs from one of my supervised visits with Seth. Alice was sitting in the armchair across from my bed, her knuckles white as she gripped the armrest, while her brother stood still as a statute behind her. "What's going on?" I asked, confused. My dreams hadn't changed recently but the two of them being there could only mean that things were finally starting to happen.

"They disappeared," Alice said, her voice low in fright.

"What?" I asked, confused. "Who?"

"The guard," she explained in a whisper. "I can't see them anymore."

I asked, "Does that mean they've decided to come here?" She nodded silently. I walked over to my bed and sat down, placing my head in my hands. I knew this day would come but I didn't want it to be now. Things in Forks were only starting to get normal, or as normal as they could be anyways. "What are we going to do?"

Edward finally moved, sitting down next to me on the bed. "We need you to have another dream, Liz."

"They haven't changed in weeks," I pointed out. I didn't want to admit that I was terrified to fall asleep now, not knowing what I would see the next time I slipped into my nightmares.

"It could change now that they've made their decision," Alice countered. "That's why I brought Edward along. He'll be able to read your dream in your thoughts, to see if there are any clues as to where and when this battle will take place."

"Right," I said softly, frowning at the reminder that Edward could read my thoughts. It still felt like a terrible violation, even if he was only doing it with good intentions. Besides, what would happen if I didn't dream about the battle? I had been having other dreams lately as well, more pleasant ones that involved Seth that I definitely did not want Edward to listen in on. I noticed him smirking and I couldn't stop myself from blushing. I had to get out there before I made a total fool out of myself. I quickly grabbed my pajamas from the bottom drawer of my bureau and ran to the bathroom to change into them.

I spent more time than usual getting ready for bed but it was so much easier to freak out when there weren't a couple of vampires watching my every move. I kept having to splash water on my face so I wouldn't completely go to pieces. I was a little surprised that Alice didn't come in and grab me, especially when I found her tapping her foot impatiently once I went back to my room.

"Sorry," I muttered, flinching under her glare as I hurried past her.

She stopped fidgeting then, and they both sat there completely still as I got into bed. It was so creepy, and I couldn't deny how awkward it was trying to sleep while they stood there and watched me.

Edward must have been listening to me because he said, "I'm sorry, Liz. Would you prefer it if I listened from outside?"

I rolled over to face the wall and muttered, "No." I doubted the wall between us would have made much of a difference. I would still feel the pressure to fall asleep even if they went home and waited. And of course, because it was suddenly so important to fall asleep, it was impossible to do. That's not saying I didn't try, either. I did everything you were supposed to do when you couldn't sleep. I kept my eyes closed tight, breathing deeply, as I focused on relaxing different muscles. But it still wasn't working. The neon green numbers of my alarm clock seemed to blur together as it got later and later until my eyelids, heavy with exhaustion, finally closed.

Alice had been right, something about their decision to come back to Forks had definitely changed it. I could tell the difference right away. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, and even more was falling around me. My breath rose in front of me in small clouds of hot air and I was freezing. No one else seemed to be affected by the cold, however. It looked like there was a small bit of steam rising off the werewolves and the vampires practically blended in with the snow. And there were so many of them that it took me by surprise, I had never seen this many vampires in one place before. Around half of them were wearing dark cloaks, which probably wasn't a good thing.

* * *

My eyes immediately sought out the tan wolf. He was in the same position as before, standing next to Edward and the girl I could only assume was Bella. They were facing those creepy vampire children, who were glaring at the three of them. A panic was starting to come into their crimson eyes as they realized that their powers weren't working. Well, I knew the girl's weren't working because no one was writhing on the ground in pain, so I could only assume that her male counterpart's abilities were proving just as useless. I wondered if Bella was the one doing that, if this was the blocking that Alice had talked about. There was another vampire nearby, a new one with red eyes and giant muscles, who was so shocked that he was watching the evil twins instead of focusing on the black werewolf he was fighting with. His face held a mixture of shock and horror, which lead me to believe that whatever was blocking their powers was a good thing. The black werewolf was able to use the burly vampire's distraction to his advantage by tearing his right arm off. I tried to block out the vampire's howl of rage as I turned away.

I couldn't place the position of the sun or if it was even out. The snow-filled clouds were too dark, they made it look like dusk no matter the actual time of day. The old man caught my eye again. He had disappeared from my dreams after I saw him last time, but I knew it was the same guy as before. He had the same white hair, chalky white skin, and he was wearing the same long black cloak as before. What had Edward said his name was, Caius? His position had changed, however. He was no longer watching the fight from the sidelines; instead, he was right in the middle of the action. Two vampires, one the long-haired Italian I had met on the deserted road and the other a beautiful woman with long brown hair, were holding another vampire in front of him. I never seen this vampire before but I could tell she was on our side from the color of her eyes. She said something to Caius, I was too far away to hear it and her lips moved much too fast to even guess at her words, and it only seemed to enrage him. He pulled something out of his cloak and in the next second, the golden-eyed vampire had gone up in flames. The old man looked right at me as he did it, his eyes conveying one simple message. I was next.

I covered my eyes but I could still hear her screams. I started shaking, much in the same way Seth did before he exploded into a wolf. For one brief second, I thought I was about to turn into a werewolf too and then suddenly I was back in my bedroom, staring at my aunt's alarmed face. It took me a second to realize that the screaming was coming from me.

"Are you alright?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock.

I couldn't speak, I was breathing so hard, so I nodded. I put my hand on my chest and I could literally feel my heart pounding.

"Another nightmare?"

"Yes," I whispered. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" She sounded a little exasperated.

I shrugged. "I woke you up. I didn't mean to, I just –" I cut myself off, shivering as I remembered how easily the girl had gone up in flames. It was only made worse by the look on the Italians faces, as if they had enjoyed watching her burn.

She looked at me in sympathy. "Are you sure you don't want to see somebody about this?"

I shook my head. "What's the point? It's not like there's much they can do besides tell me not to sleep."

"I don't know," she sighed. "They might be able to give you some pills for them."

For some reason, I didn't think a good dose of sleeping pills would stop my horrific nightmares. "No," I said, rubbing my eyes and faking a yawn. "I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Alright," she said, still looking at me strangely as she got up to leave. "I'm right down the hall if you need me, okay?"

"Thanks, Aunt Emma," I said. I waited until I heard her bedroom door click shut before I called out, "Alice?" She opened my closet door and stepped out slowly, probably trying not to scare me. "Did Edward leave?"

She nodded. "He went to tell Carlisle what he learned from your dream."

"So it worked?" I asked, hoping at least some good could come out of it.

"Yes," she replied. "It's taking place in a field that's pretty far outside of town, which is good. Hopefully we'll be able to keep them completely out of Forks. And he thinks it might be taking place during the first snow fall of the season."

"And when's that?" I asked, curiously. It had never really occurred to me before but I'm sure Alice was much better at predicting the weather than any weatherman on television. I wondered if it still worked now, with so many people blocking her vision lately. Her eyes went blank and her muscles suddenly tensed. It almost looked like she was having a seizure. I wasn't sure what the protocol for this was but I definitely wasn't going to stick any parts of my body near her mouth to make sure she didn't swallow her tongue. I grabbed her shoulder and shook it. "Alice? Are you alright?"

She exhaled loudly, going back to normal in an instant. "The first snow fall is next Sunday."

I frowned. "That's only eight days away."

"I know," she said, sitting down next to me. "It doesn't give us that much time to find anyone else to help." We sat in silence for a few minutes. I had my head in my hands, trying to erase the dream from my mind. She was patting my back lightly, and I didn't have the heart to tell her that her ice-cold hand was not much comfort. "Does the pack know what's going on?"

"Carlisle's informed Sam about them disappearing from my visions," she said. "He's probably calling him right now to tell him what we've learned from your dream."

I sighed. With this fight taking place in just over a week, I doubted I would be able to see Seth at all. Sam would want to have all of the wolves out there, making sure no vampires got on the reservation.

"Alice, do you remember that school dance that I told you about?" I could feel her eyes on me but I couldn't look at her. "It's two days before that Sunday. Do you think Seth would go to it with me if I asked?" It was a little embarrassing and I could feel my face getting hot. With what I had learned tonight, I knew I wouldn't be able to see Seth nearly as much as I wanted to, and I just wanted to set up one day where he would have to see me. Even if it involved dancing.

"Why wouldn't he?" she asked. I could hear excitement in her voice and I immediately regretted asking her. If she tried to give me a makeover of any kind, even if it was just to paint my nails, I was so staking her. "Aren't wolves supposed to do anything they can to make their imprint happy?" I shrugged in response and she got this mischievous smile on her face, one that made me feel very uncomfortable, and said, "Well, then, you'll just have to make it impossible for him to say no."

* * *

**A/N:** I know there's really no excuse for this. I actually finished this story a long time ago but never go around to typing it all up. I've had work, school and just life in general keeping me extremely busy for the past year or so. Plus, well, I honestly lost a lot of interest in Twilight. And then I finally got around to seeing _Breaking Dawn: Part 1_ and it made me kind of love Seth Clearwater again, to be honest. And then I remembered this story and the fact that I left everyone hanging for so long even though I had finished it for myself. I really will have the rest up soon, I've already got everything except the last chapter typed up but I understand if you don't believe me. And a huge thank you goes out to everyone that has kept reviewing and messaging me. You guys are great.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

It was strange being in school the next day. It felt like there was this giant storm cloud hanging over my head, one that came with a giant alarm clock, slowly counting down to the end. And the weirdest part was that no one else knew about it. I wasn't sure how the fight, war, whatever it was, would affect the citizens of Forks but I found it hard to believe that it would happen without anyone realizing that something was going on. I mean, the whole town could be destroyed and no one knew. I wanted to get up on my table in the cafeteria and start shouting for everyone to get out while they still could, but I'm pretty sure I would have gotten detention for trying to start a riot. And then Emma would have found out and she would drag me, kicking and screaming, to see that psychiatrist. Even so, I wish I could somehow get my friends to leave town next weekend, although I knew that would be impossible. They were all looking forward to going to that ridiculous dance. Maybe I could try and force them all into going to the movies in Port Angeles that Sunday afternoon, though. Or would that still be too close? I wasn't even sure where exactly this fight was going to take place, just that it was in a clearing in the middle of the woods. For all I knew, it could be closer to Port Angeles than Forks.

"Liz, what is going on with you?" Lydia asked as we changed after gym class. "You're really twitchy today."

"Nothing," I said. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Right," she said skeptically, watching me with narrowed eyes. "And that's why you keep jumping a foot off the ground every time someone closes their locker."

"I have not," I replied. Why was she even paying that close attention to me? It was a little creepy.

"Really?" she asked. She slammed her locker closed and it still managed to startle me, even though I knew it was coming. I couldn't help it; my nerves felt like they were so wound up that I would never be able to relax again.

I sighed, deciding to change the subject. There was no way I could actually tell her why I was so frazzled and Lydia was probably the only one that would be able to pry the secret out of me. "Hey, did you drive here today?" She nodded and I asked, "Want to give me a ride to La Push?"

"Aren't you still grounded?" she asked, her eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

I shrugged. "I really want to see Seth."

"Yeah, but your aunt will flip if she finds out about it," she pointed out.

I rolled my eyes. Obviously, I had gone to the wrong friend for the planned jailbreak. Maybe I would have to wait for English and Chase's bad influence, although I'm sure Lydia would be pissed if she missed some 'hot Quileute boys.' "You know, some of his friends might be there," I said. I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't desperate to see Seth, I wanted Lydia as far from the pack as I could get her, but it was probably the only way I would be able to get her to take me. "And they walk around shirtless all the time."

She pursed her lips, obviously onto the fact that I was trying to manipulate her. Her desire to see half-naked boys won out in the end, though. "If you're not at my car five minutes after the bell rings, I'm leaving without you," she said before turning to leave.

I couldn't help laughing. "I'll be there!" I yelled, drawing the attention of the other girls in the locker room.

I had a wide smile on my face when I walked into English, which, I guess, was a very noticeable difference from the way I had been acting at lunch. "What are you so happy about?" Chase asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Just happy."

He actually snorted at that. "You're never just happy. What's up?"

"Fine," I said, feeling a little shocked at the truth behind his words. I pushed it aside, though, because I was too excited at the prospect of seeing Seth to try and analyze what it meant. "Lydia's going to give me a ride to La Push."

Chase actually groaned at that. "And then what, you're just going to set her loose on the poor unsuspecting people there?"

I gave him a strange look. He made her sound like some kind of serial killer. "I figured she would hang out with his friends for a little while. She's always begging me to introduce her."

He sighed in exasperation and said, in a voice that one would use when they were trying to explain something complicated to a small child, "You can't just leave her alone there. She'll have five restraining orders filed against her by sundown."

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're exaggerating."

"You may think I am now but don't be surprised when all of his friends stop talking to you."

I rolled my eyes at him again because I was pretty sure where all of this was coming from. "You know, if you wanted to come and ogle hot guys too, all you have to do is ask."

He laughed at that. "All I want to do is make sure Lydia doesn't get arrested."

"Just meet us by her car after school," I said, trying to hold in my laughter as Mr. Mason started the class. I couldn't believe that sneaking out to La Push had turned into such a big thing but I also didn't care. I couldn't really explain why it was so crucial that I saw Seth. I knew that Alice had told the pack about what we learned last night, she had left my room soon after I had woken up, and I guess I was curious to see how they were reacting. I wanted to know Seth's role in it, although I was selfishly hoping that Sam would force him out of the action. I could take his complaining about that for days as long as I knew he was safe.

Lydia wasn't pleased when I showed up at her car with Chase, though. "What is he doing here?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "He wanted to come to La Push too."

"He wanted to ruin my fun, you mean," she pouted.

"Uh… you do realize I'm standing right here, right?" he laughed.

Lydia rolled her eyes at him and got in her car without responding. I shrugged at him before climbing into the passenger seat. The car, an older silver Saturn, actually belonged to Lydia's mother but luckily, she let Lydia use it on days when she didn't need it. It was nice being in a car that didn't look and smell like a hazardous waste dump.

The ride to La Push was a little awkward. Lydia and Chase spent the time bickering over an incident that involved one of Chase's cousins who now, apparently, refused to ever come back to Forks. I tried to tune them out as best as I could, I really didn't give a crap about Lydia's socially awkward behavior. I drummed my fingers on the dashboard and interrupted her as she told Chase where exactly he could tell his cousin to shove it, "Oh my God, Lydia. Can't you speed it up a little?"

"I'm going the speed limit," she said defensively. After Chase had been convinced that Lydia would fail her drivers test, I expected her to drive like some kind of lunatic. Instead, she was always overly cautious whenever she got behind the wheel, often driving at a pace that would put snails to shame.

"Are you kidding me? My dead grandmother drives faster than this," I replied.

"Your dead grandmother can drive?" Chase asked, a giant smirk on his face.

"No," I said, my voice flat with annoyance. "That's the whole point."

"Why do you guys keep criticizing my driving?" Lydia asked, exasperated. "May I remind you, Chase, that you failed the driving test the first time you took it and you, Liz, don't even know how to drive!"

Chase scowled at that but I just laughed it off. "That doesn't change the fact that we were just passed by a bus full of nuns!"

"They can risk their lives by passing illegally, Liz, they have Jesus on their side!" she snapped.

I couldn't help laughing at her. She slowed at a stop sign and I could see La Push's small convenience store up ahead. Seth's house wasn't that far so I jumped out and yelled, "Meet me at First Beach!"

"Where are you going?" Lydia called after me.

"I'm going to get Seth and some of his friends," I said. "I'll see you guys at the beach, alright?" I started running in the direction of Seth's house.

"Hey, you promised me shirtless guys, O'Brien!" she yelled.

I couldn't help laughing as I continued running. I was winded by the time I reached Seth's house but I didn't stop to catch my breath before pounding on the front door. It wasn't until after I had done this that I realized Sue might be home, and if she caught me, I had no doubt in my mind that she would rat me out to Emma. I probably should have gone to Seth's bedroom window first but it was too late to do anything now. I could head someone unlocking the door.

Luck must have been on my side, though, because Seth opened the door. I threw myself at him the second I saw his beautiful smile and pulled him into a tight hug. "Whoa," he laughed. "Hey Liz."

"Hi," I smiled. It felt like all of my worries and anxieties had disappeared the second I saw him. It was hard being scared about anything when I could feel his warm body this close to mine and smell that mixture of salt water and pine trees that was so distinctly Seth.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer to him. "Are you finally ungrounded?"

"No," I sighed. "I just wanted to see you."

He laughed and pulled away to see my face. "You know, if you keep pulling these little jailbreaks, you're going to be grounded until you graduate college."

"I really don't care," I replied. I looked into his house then, a little scared that his mother might pop out from behind the stove or something. "Is your mom here?" I whispered.

He smiled. "No, she's over at Charlie's."

"Charlie?" I asked. I had no idea who that was.

"Chief Swan." He made a face as he continued, "I think they might be dating."

"Oh," I said. I couldn't stand to see his frown so I traced his bottom lip with my thumb. He smiled before leaning down and brushing his lips against mine. I tangled my hand in his hair and pulled him closer, wanting to kiss him properly, when I heard someone start to cheer. "Seth, you've got to see this!" someone yelled from his bedroom. "I just made this guy's head explode!"

Well, that kind of ruined the mood. I pulled away from him and asked, "Who's that?"

Seth groaned. "Brady. Sorry, he brought over the new Call of Duty."

"Oh," I said, a plan forming in my mind. I grabbed his hand, not wanting to lose any contact with him, and I walked to his bedroom.

"Oh, hey Liz," Brady said, his eyes never leaving the screen. "Sneaking out again?"

"Yep," I replied, sitting down next to him on the bed. Seth stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest as he glared at his friend. "Hey Brady, do you think you could do me a favor?"

"What is it?" he asked skeptically. His fingers were moving blindingly fast over the Xbox controller and I was a little afraid that the plastic wouldn't last much longer.

"Do you think you could go down to First Beach and entertain my friends for an hour or so?" I asked, hoping he would take the bait. I knew he was only in middle school but he definitely fit the bill of cute and shirtless. Plus, he looked more like he was twenty-five than fourteen so I didn't think Lydia would mind.

"But I'm in the middle of -" He was cut off by Seth clearing his throat loudly. He looked up from the television for the first time and noticed the not-so-polite 'Get the hell out' look on his friend's face. He sighed in annoyance. "Fine."

"Thanks, Brady," I smiled as he got up from the bed.

"Sure, sure," he waved me off. "Seth, could I borrow one of your shirts?"

"No!" I practically yelled. They looked at me in confusion and I tried to backtrack so I wouldn't look crazy. "You don't need a shirt. It feels like summer out there."

"Yeah, whatever," Brady muttered in anger. "And an hour, really? You're setting your hopes a little high, don't you think?"

Brady ran down the hallway after that remark while Seth picked a shoe up off his bedroom floor and threw it. He had moved so fast that the shoe was only a black blur as it flew through the air. I heard a loud thunk and then Brady yelled, "Ow!"

I tried to hold in a laugh as I called out, "Her name's Lydia, okay? She should be hanging out down there with a blond kid!"

Seth laughed. "What, did you have to bribe her to bring you down here?"

I smiled sheepishly. "You don't mind that I'm basically pimping your friends out, do you?"

"Are you kidding? Brady is going to be overjoyed that he gets to hang out with an older girl." He sat down next to me and brushed a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "Besides," he said, his voice low and husky, "no one's home right now."

He leaned over and started kissing my neck, while at the same time grabbing my waist and pulling me closer to him. I resisted the urge to give into him, although I really wanted to see how far we could get before the universe decided stop us again. I pulled away and said, "Actually, I kind of wanted to talk to you about something."

He made a face at that. "What's up?"

I slipped my shoes off before pulling my knees up to my chest. "I assume Alice told the pack about the dream I had last night."

"Yeah," he said, scratching the back of his head. "Sam called a pack meeting about it last night."

"So what are you guys doing?" I asked. He raised an eyebrow at me and I continued. "Do you really expect me to believe that the pack hasn't come up with some kind of strategy already?"

He laughed. "Well, we still have to talk to the Cullens about the best way to fight these guys. They will be a lot harder to beat than the newborns." He scowled and said, "But Sam's doing his best to keep me out of the action. He wants me to patrol the rez with Colin and Brady to make sure none of the vampires try anything."

I sighed in relief. Thank God for Sam. "Well, that's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Seth asked, his voice rising with his temper. "Liz, these guys tried to eat you and now they want to kill my friends. I can't just let them get away with that!"

"And they won't," I said. "The Cullens and the rest of the pack –"

He interrupted me. "No, I can't just let my friends fight them on their own."

I didn't know what to say to that. I could only take comfort in the fact that Sam was intent on keeping Seth out of the action. "Okay," I said, scooting closer to him and putting my hand over his in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. "I'm sorry."

He sighed and ran his other hand through his hair. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that but I just… hate it when Sam treats me like I'm some kind of kid." He grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap. My neck got hot as I remembered what exactly had happened the last time we were in this exact position in his bedroom. "You do realize that you'll be spending that day in La Push, right?"

He ran his nose lightly up my neck as he spoke and I suddenly found it very hard to think. "What?"

"Yeah," he answered softly. He was so close that I could feel his hot breath on my neck. "My mom's going to do whatever she has to in order to get Emma here. You'll have to make her bring you along, okay? I won't even be able to think if you're not here and safe."

"Alright," I said. "I'll be here."

His answering smile was brilliant. "Thank you," he said. He leaned in and kissed me softly, his lips were gentle as they moved slowly over mine.

I was having trouble breathing normally by the time he pulled away. I rested my forehead against his and whispered, "I have to ask you something."

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

I bit my lip, suddenly feeling a little awkward. I don't think I would be able to handle it very well if he rejected me, this might be the only chance I would be able to see Seth this week. "Uh… Forks High is having this stupid dance next Friday and Lydia kind of talked me into going so I was wondering if you… wanted to go… with me." I couldn't look at him as I waited for his answer; it was all just a little too embarrassing. When he didn't respond right away, I started to ramble. "I know it sounds really stupid but I think it might be fun. And I've already bought a dress so I can't really back out now, although I would understand if you're busy that –"

He put his finger over my mouth, effectively stopping my word vomit. "I'll go with you," he laughed. "I won't have to wear a suit, right?"

I giggled. "No. Just make sure you show up with a shirt on."

"Oh," he said, trying to hold in a smile. He looked down at his bare chest and then back up at me, raising one of his eyebrows. "I thought you liked this, but I guess I should put one on now."

I pushed him back on the bed before lying on top of him. "I don't think so." I kissed him hard before trailing my lips down his neck to his muscular chest. He let out a gasp when I reached his abs before grabbing me gently and pulling my face back up to his. I was a little worried that I had gone too far but he simply smiled at me before placing his lips on mine. I seemed to lose myself in him, the way I always did whenever we did this. It was almost a little embarrassing how light-headed I felt, and I'm pretty sure my stomach was doing back flips. Before I even knew what was happening, one of his hands was under my shirt and moving upwards while the other was planted firmly on my back, holding me against him. I lost all control of myself when his large, warm hand brushed shyly over the cotton material of my bra. I ground my hips down onto his and his responding moan only encouraged me to do it again. He raised his hips to meet mine that time and I started breathing harder, if that was even possible. I buried my face in his neck, a little embarrassed by my panting, and he whispered my name. I took a little comfort in the fact that he sounded just as breathless as I felt.

I kissed his neck softly, his skin burning my lips in more ways than one, and said, "I love you." My voice was so low that I was surprised that he heard me, super hearing and all. And then it felt like his hands were every where, the one at my chest was moving in a way that made my breath come out way too hard and fast to be normal and the one at my back moved lower, holding me in place as he bucked his hips up into mine. I could feel him, even through the heavy fabric of our jeans, and the pressure from his hips felt so good that I just wanted more. I couldn't hold in the moan that rose up my throat when I pushed myself down onto him, trying to maintain that pressure. He made this weird, strangled sound that seemed to come from the back of his throat and his grip on my hip tightened to the point where it actually hurt.

And then he just stopped. He picked me up gently and placed me next to him, not meeting my eyes when I looked at him in confusion. "What's wrong?" I asked, still having a little trouble breathing.

"Nothing," he said, his voice unnaturally hoarse. His hands were covering the crotch of his jeans as he sat up quickly.

I sat up too, watching him in alarm. "Seth, what's going?"

"It's nothing, Liz," he said. I noticed he was blushing, the cooper skin of his neck darker than normal. "I, uh… I just have to go clean up." It clicked then. My eyes widened as I watched him get up and grab something from the dresser across the room before darting out the door. I could literally feel the blood rushing up my neck to my face. I couldn't believe it; I thought things like that only happened in bad movies. He was still avoiding my eyes when he got back, wearing a new pair of pants.

There was a tense, awkward silence filling the room. I didn't know what to say but I was sure it would swallow us whole if I didn't break it. "Sorry," I muttered.

"For what?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I pushed you too far, right?" I asked. I still felt incredibly awkward but I was glad we were talking, at least. "I'm sorry," I repeated. "I just got… really into it."

He laughed, although it didn't sound completely natural, and sat down next to me again. "Believe me, Liz, I wasn't doing anything I didn't want to do."

I smiled. "Good to know."

He smiled back and it seemed to dispel all of the awkwardness. "Come on," he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me up. "Let's go see your friends down at First Beach."

"Hold on," I said before I picked one of the cleaner looking shirts up off the floor, sniffed it quickly to make sure it didn't smell, and then handed it to him. He looked at me in confusion and I started to blush as I explained, "I'm the only one that gets to like that." I gestured to his chest.

I expected him to laugh, maybe tell me I was being ridiculous, but he just stared at me in that really intense way while a small smile played on his lips. "Okay," he said softly. He pulled the dark blue t-shirt over his head before grabbing my hand again and pulling me out the door.

He waited until we were walking in the woods, taking a shortcut to the beach, to ask, "So do you think Emma's going to let you go to this dance or will we be sneaking off to that, too?"

I smirked. "No, I'm pretty sure she will. As long as she doesn't find out about this, anyway."

He laughed, "Well, let's hope she doesn't."

"That excited for a lame school dance?" I joked, smiling at him.

He snorted. "No, I'm just looking forward to spending some more unsupervised time with you." I shot him a perplexed look. I mean, what did he think we were just doing? "It's a little weird having her breathing down my neck every time I come over."

I laughed. "I hate to break it to you but I think she'll be doing that long after I finish serving my time."

"Why?" he asked, clearly confused.

My face felt extremely warm as I answered, "I think she's scared I'm going to get pregnant or something."

I was glad we reached the beach then, not really wanting to continue that awkward conversation. I was a little shocked by the scene that greeted us. Lydia and Brady seemed to be getting along really well, she was laughing pretty hard while he looked pleased with himself. Chase, however, did not look amused. He was eyeing Brady suspiciously with a scowl etched on his face.

Seth laughed and gestured to his friend. "I told you Brady would enjoy himself." And it was true, there was no way Brady could deny that he enjoyed the way Lydia was hanging on his every word.

Brady noticed us first. He smirked as he eyed the clothes Seth had changed into. "See? I told you that an hour was a huge overestimate, Liz."

Seth scowled, clearly unable to get back at Brady when there were humans present. "Shut up, Brady," he said, the threatening tone in his voice making it clear that Brady would be paying for that later.

Lydia laughed even harder when she saw me, and Chase managed to crack a smile. "What?" I asked.

"Oh Liz," Lydia said, getting up and dragging me a short way away from the boys. "You really need to start carrying around a mirror."

"What? Why?" I asked, completely bewildered.

She held in another laugh as she pulled a comb out of her purse and handed it to me. "So you can make sure that it's not completely obvious you ditched us to make out with your boyfriend."

I blushed as I ran the comb through my hair. "Right," I said, trying not to make a face as she smoothed out the bottom of my shirt. "Thanks." It was a good thing she had pointed it out now, I'm sure Emma probably would have killed me if she found me like that later.

"No problem."

She was still smiling at me, though, and it was starting to creep me out. "What?" I asked.

"What do you know about Brady?" she asked in response.

I shrugged. I didn't really know anything about him except that he was the second youngest member of the pack. "Not much," I answered. "Why?"

"He's really hot," she replied, sounding like she thought it should be completely obvious.

I couldn't help making a face at that. I knew I was risking her trying to hook up with one of Seth's friends when I talked her into bringing me here but that didn't mean I actually wanted it to happen. "You do know that he's fourteen, right?"

She pursed her lips. "He doesn't look fourteen."

"That doesn't change the fact that he is," I pointed out.

She thought it over for a minute before shrugging. "I don't care. He's still gorgeous." She turned and walked back over to the boys, leaving me staring after her.

I followed her quickly, hoping to reach her before she started up another flirting session with Brady. "Hey, wait! I need you to take me home now."

"Since when did I become your chauffer?" she asked in annoyance. "I don't want to leave yet."

I grabbed her arm so she would stop walking. "Yeah but I'm really going to have to kiss some major ass tonight if I want Emma to let me go to that dance."

She looked at me in shock, a smile spreading across her face. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

I wasn't sure what to say to that. "I'm saying that I want to go to the winter formal. But I'm going to need to really suck up to Emma so I figured I could clean the house and make dinner before I asked for permission." That was something adults appreciated, right? I didn't have much experience with the whole grounding thing so coming up with ways to get out of it was extremely difficult.

"Oh my God, why didn't you say something earlier?" she said, grabbing my arm and practically dragging me over to the car. "Chase, come on! We need to leave now!" I waved to Seth and Brady, who were watching in confusion as Lydia practically threw me in the passenger seat before speeding out of the parking lot.

* * *

**A/N:** Look at that! I'm updating again only two days later! Please don't die of shock or anything, haha. A huge thank you goes out to everyone that is still reviewing and putting this story on their alerts and favorites. You guys are awesome! I really am sorry for waiting so long to get the end up.

Speaking of, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to beta the last chapters for me? Like I mentioned in my last author's note, I hand wrote them all way back when I didn't have a computer/was still getting used to my new one and I've only recently typed them up. And while I've been checking them all obsessively for typos and whatnot, I'm sure I still missed some. Plus, I'm not the best with grammar so I would feel better about posting these things if I had a second pair of eyes. Also, it would be nice if you could do it fairly quickly. If not, well, we'll all just have to deal with my crappy typing/sentence structure. Anyways, er, if you're interested just send me your email and we can talk.

I'll try to get the next one up soon! It might not be before Christmas since I have family flying in tonight and I have to find ways to entertain them for the next week but I will definitely be finishing this story very soon! And please remember to review and let me know what you think about this chapter! :)


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

No one was more surprised than I was when Lydia pulled into Emma's driveway without causing any accidents. I guess we had now figured out why she always drove so slowly; she became a maniac on the road whenever she reached speeds above twenty-five miles per hour. When I finally got out of the car, my heart was racing and I had a sudden urge to kiss the asphalt under my feet. "Thanks, Lyd," I muttered as soon as I was on solid ground. I made a mental note to never push her into driving quickly again; it was far too risky and I wasn't interested in dying at sixteen.

"Liz, you have to call me as soon as you talk to your aunt," she said, a wild look in her eyes. Or maybe I was just imagining things.

"I don't know, Lydia," I said, biting my lip. "I'm not supposed to –"

She cut me off. "So you can sneak into La Push to see your boyfriend but you can't sneak a small phone call to your best friend? That's kind of messed up."

She looked at me expectantly, as if she knew she was pushing just the right button. "Fine, but not until she goes to sleep," I relented, sighing.

Lydia nodded, a wide grin breaking out across her face. "I'll wait up."

Chase got out of the car then, moving from the back seat to the front. He stopped before climbing back into the car and asked, "You do realize she'll stay up all night if you don't call her, right?"

I smiled. "I figured as much."

He patted my shoulder briefly before moving to get in the car. But the second he reached for the door handle, Lydia backed the car up a little, making it impossible for him to get in. "What the hell!" he exclaimed.

She rolled his window down and shouted, "If you actually think I'm going to let you back in my car after all of your insults –"

He interrupted her. "You almost ran my foot over!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Chase! My car is nowhere near your foot!"

"Of course you have no idea where your car is in relation to your surroundings," Chase snapped.

Lydia gasped but I cut in before she could say anything. "Would you two just get the hell out of here? Emma is going to flip if you're still out here bickering when she gets home."

"Always using the aunt as an excuse to get rid of us," Chase said with a laugh. Lydia, pissed that I was trying to get Chase into her car, glared at me through the open window. Chase used her distraction to open the door and climb in the passenger seat.

"Yeah, well, start taking the hint then," I muttered jokingly, closing the door behind him.

Chase laughed and flipped me off before turning to Lydia, who looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. I rolled my eyes, knowing that she would end up forgiving him before she dropped him off.

I walked into the house and headed straight for the kitchen, knowing that I would have to butter Emma up before I asked if I could go to that dance. I wasn't exactly sure what her favorite meal was but I knew she liked pasta so I got to work heating up tomato sauce and boiling water. I took care of Sophie, too, making sure she was fed and taking her outside when she needed to go. I even cleaned the house while dinner was cooking, trying to make the rooms downstairs spotless. This was a good thing, right? I was sure she'd be able to see exactly what I was doing, but she would at least see that I was making an effort. I tried to hold in a groan as I hurriedly ran the vacuum. This whole "being a kid" thing really sucked. I much preferred the way things were with my dad, when I was able to go off and do whatever I wanted without having to worry about notes and groundings and hurting someone's feelings. I knew that wasn't the ideal way to raise a teenage girl-Emma seemed really fond of bringing that up whenever we got on the subject-but it was definitely way more convenient than having to go to all this trouble just so I could go to a ridiculous high school dance.

Emma had good timing, walking in just as I was straining the noodles. "What's all this?" she asked in amusement as she eyed the table, which I had set up with some of her nicer dishes.

I shrugged, trying to look as innocent as possible as I said, "Just thought I'd do something nice." It sounded more like a question than a statement and I'm sure she could see right through me.

"Uh-huh," she said suspiciously, going back into the front hallway to hang up her raincoat.

Well, this wasn't going as well as I had expected. I followed her and said, "It's just… I figured it would suck to have to come home and cook and all of that after a twelve hour shift."

She smiled. "Yes, it definitely does suck doing that."

I smiled back as I watched her pet Sophie. "Come on," I said softly, treading lightly so I wouldn't ruin her good mood. "The food's going to get cold."

She grinned as she entered the kitchen. "What did you make, anyways?"

"Ravioli," I said, following her nervously. I was starting to worry that my plan was going to backfire. What if she figured out what I was doing and decided to ground me even longer for trying to get out of my well-deserved punishment?

"It smells good," she commented as she sat down at the table and started to pile food onto her plate. I watched warily as she took a bite, hoping it tasted as good as it smelled, and I was relieved when she gave me a thumbs up.

It was incredibly awkward, watching her eat when I felt entirely too anxious to have any food. I really wanted to be able to go to this dance, as ridiculous as it sounded, just so I knew I would get one more night with Seth before this battle, war, whatever it was, happened. Maybe I was being too pessimistic or I was letting the horror of the situation get to me, but it somehow felt like that was the last time I would ever see him.

"So," I began, trying to start some kind of conversation. "How was work?"

"It was alright," she answered. "A little slow, but I suppose that's a good thing." I nodded, not really sure what to say. "How was school?"

I tried to hold in a sigh as I told her about a test I had had in Chemistry. It was strange, having these tragically normal conversations with an adult who actually seemed to care if I passed Chemistry, but I figured it was better to stay on this topic. If we got on to the topic of Seth, I might get that odd guilty feeling again and accidentally tell her something that I'd immediately regret-like how I had been in Seth's bedroom unsupervised this afternoon-without being able to stop myself.

Dinner passed uneventfully after that. We stayed on safe subjects, her work, school, the stupid things my friends did, never once venturing on to the things I really wanted to talk about. When it was done, I got up quickly to pile the plates before bringing them to the sink. "Oh Liz, I can do that," Emma said, trying to pry the plates out of my hands.

"No, I've got it, Aunt Emma," I replied, holding on to the plates as if my life depended on it. There's no way I was going to let her do the dishes. I doubted she would feel too charitable if she was elbow deep in dirty water.

She dropped her hands, narrowing her eyes at me in suspicion. "Okay, spill it," she said.

"Spill what?" I asked, suddenly feeling very nervous.

"You're a terrific kid, Liz, but I doubt you did all of this out of the goodness of your heart," she smiled.

"You make me sound like such a jerk," I replied, glaring down at the hot water filling the sink. "I can do nice things without expecting anything in return."

"Uh-huh," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She watched me, her lips twitching as if she were fighting back a smile.

Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "Fine," I sighed. "There's this dance at school next Friday –"

"I thought you didn't do dances," she smiled, interrupting me.

I shrugged. "Guess I was wrong." She sighed but didn't say anything. I went back to the dishes, trying to let her think. I didn't want to push her into refusing, after all. But the minutes slipped by and I couldn't take it anymore. I looked up to see her frowning at me and I was surprised by the sheer amount of disappointment that flooded through me. "Oh, okay. I understand, Aunt Emma. I just though I'd give it a try," I shrugged again, trying to sound nonchalant, though I don't think it worked.

"No," she said, grabbing my arm. "You can go, Liz."

"Really?" I asked, trying not to get too excited.

She sighed again and ran her hands through her short red hair. "I've been thinking that maybe it was time to let you off." I looked up at her so quickly that something in my neck cracked; trying to figure out if she was just messing around with me. If this was a joke, it was a very cruel one. "I might have… overreacted a little that night."

"A little?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Don't push your luck," she said sternly. Her tone changed, showing her lack of confidence, as she continued. "The break-in really freaked me out and when I found your room empty that night, I kind of lost it. Liz, I don't think you really understand just how much I worry about you. I jumped to conclusions about the whole sneaking out thing; I didn't even think to look for you outside. And I am truly sorry about that."

She pulled me away from the sink so that she could hug me while I attempted to hug her back as best I could without touching her with my soapy hands. I should have felt happy, I was finally free, but I only felt incredibly guilty. She was right, I had snuck out, and I had somehow managed to make her feel awful for it. I was a horrible person. But still, the guilt wasn't bad enough for me to confess. The only thing that was running through my mind was the fact that I would be able to see Seth whenever I wanted, not just between the supervised hours of seven and eight. "Thanks, Aunt Emma," I said, pulling away and turning back to the sink. Hopefully she wouldn't be able to read the shame on my face.

She tried to nudge me out of the way. "So you can stop trying to suck up now, it's only making me feel worse."

I laughed at that, standing firmly in front of the dirty dishes. "You don't have to feel bad, I'm not sucking up."

She scoffed at that. "Right. You cooked dinner and cleaned the house because you've decided to become some kind of domestic goddess."

"Damn straight," I replied, smiling at her.

She sighed as she took the soapy sponge out of my hands. "Really, I've got this. I'm sure you want to go call Seth and let him know that he has plans next Friday."

"Right," I said, letting her take over. I wasn't sure what came over me then but I hugged her again, spilling soap bubbles and warm water down her back. "Thank you," I muttered before grabbing the phone and running to my room, ignoring the strange mixture of bewilderment and amusement on her face.

I stopped short once I reached the doorway to my bedroom. Alice must have been in there earlier, although she had never come to see me during the day before. She had left something for me, too. There was a black box in the middle of my bed and a bag from the pharmacy on top of that. I opened the bag first, rolling my eyes when I spotted the box of condoms inside. That was a little presumptuous, although it definitely wasn't a bad idea. I should probably get Emma to take me to a doctor so I could get on birth control, but that was a conversation that I was definitely not looking forward to. And I couldn't bring it up tonight anyways; my freedom was so new that if I mentioned it, Emma might lock me in my bedroom and fit me for a chastity belt or something. I hid the box, still wrapped up in the white plastic with the local pharmacy logo on it, in my nightstand.

I turned to the black box next, opening the lid slowly and removing the white tissue paper. I groaned when I saw the shoes inside. They were these black strappy things with an insane heel and an even crazier small platform on them. They looked a lot like the shoes I had tried on in the mall but had passed on because of how high they were, except they were obviously much more expensive. Of course she had given me these; it was like she was a pushier, immortal version of Lydia. "Thanks, Alice," I muttered as I picked up the phone. I would have to find some way to repay her, like a wooden stake through her cold, unbeating heart.

I called Seth first, wanting to tell him the good news. I selfishly wanted him to come over, despite Sam's objections to his crossing into Cullen territory. It didn't matter that I had just seen him that afternoon, or that Emma would probably still watch us like a hawk, my body longed to be near him in the worst kind of way. It was pathetic, really, but I had long since silenced the part of me that was always critical of just how much I needed him.

Leah picked up, though, and I had to stop myself from hanging up right then. I hadn't seen Leah since Chase had snuck me into La Push the first time. Frankly, I had been more than a little relieved by that fact. I knew that the next time we met, it would be extremely awkward considering that the last time she saw me, I had been topless and straddling her brother. At least this wouldn't be quite as bad, although she somehow found a way to be incredibly intimidating over the phone. "Hey, Leah, it's Liz. Is Seth there?"

"No, he's out on patrol with Colin and Brady," she answered. I might have just been imagining it but I swear I could hear a smirk in her voice.

"Oh, okay," I said, disappointment flooding through me. "Can you tell him to call me?"

"What am I, his answering service?" she asked, sounding annoyed.

"Right, sorry. Thanks anyway," I said quickly. "Bye." I hung up before she could answer, not really interested in prolonging that conversation.

The phone rang the seconds later and for one panicked moment, I thought Leah was calling back to yell at me for hanging up on her. My heart seemed to restart only after Lydia's number came up on the caller ID. "Hey," I said as I answered the phone.

"Hey!" She started talking really fast, like she always did when she was excited about something. "I'm sorry but I couldn't wait until your aunt went to sleep! How did it go? And what are you doing, answering the telephone? It's not a designated phone hour. Won't your aunt be pissed?"

"Actually, she freed me tonight," I said when she finally stopped to take a breath.

"What?" she yelled, and I could practically hear her smiling. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" It wasn't like I could actually get a word in edgewise. I tried telling her that but she spoke again before I could even open my mouth. "I'm coming over, okay? I'll be there in like five minutes."

"Wait, no! Lydia –" I started to protest but she had already hung up. I stared at the phone in horror before running downstairs. I had to make sure Emma was okay with this, otherwise I would murder Lydia in the most painful way possible.

Luckily, she still seemed to be in a good mood. She was playing with Sophie but she looked up when she heard me coming. She raised an eyebrow at me when I didn't say anything right away. It was a little ridiculous, I had come face to face with werewolves and vampires, both good and bad, but I was still terrified of this woman. "What's up?" she asked.

"Is it okay if Lydia comes by?" I asked. I figured it would be better if I didn't mention that she was already on the way.

Emma smirked at me. "Not wasting any of your new-found freedom, are you?"

I smiled sheepishly and nervously scratched the back of my head. "Well, I told her the good news and she kind of flipped, invited herself over, and then hung up before I could say anything. But I can tell her to go home when she gets here, if you want."

She started to laugh. "It's fine, Liz. You're not grounded anymore, your friends can come over whenever you want." I had to hold in a laugh at that. For some reason, I didn't think that same principle applied to Seth but I wasn't stupid enough to bring it up.

I could see Lydia's headlights as she pulled in behind Emma's car in the driveway. I rolled my eyes, she must have driven like a racecar driver to get here that fast and whatever the reason for that was, I'm sure it wasn't good. I opened the front door before she was halfway up the driveway and groaned at the magazines in her hands. "Oh, come on, Liz," she said, guessing correctly at the reason for my displeasure. "We've got to find decent hair styles."

"Lydia, we both have short hair," I reminded her. "There's not much we can do with it."

She frowned as she hung her coat up in the hall closet. "And that's why I brought these over, so we can find something."

"Right," I said skeptically, narrowing my eyes at her. I doubted she had raced over here just so we could look through magazines.

"Hi Mrs. O'Brien! It's nice seeing you again," Lydia said cheerfully before grabbing my arm and dragging me up the stairs.

"Not too late, girls!" Emma called after us.

"Alright," I yelled back. I was stumbling on the stairs as Lydia dragged me up them but her grip was too tight for me to break. "Geez, Lydia. What's gotten into you?"

She threw the magazines on my bed and then turned to me with a huge grin on her face. "I asked Brady to go to the winter formal with me!"

I stared at her in confusion. "I thought you were going with Chase."

She waved it off. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"I don't know, it might hurt his feelings," I replied. I randomly grabbed one of the magazines she brought before sitting down on the bed.

Lydia shrugged. "He'll get over it. I'm not going to pass up an actual date just so I can hang out with Chase. We could do that any night."

"You could also go on a date with Brady any night," I pointed out.

She laughed as she sat down next to me. "Are you kidding? I was trying to set something up sooner but he kept saying he had to work. What's up with that Sam Uley guy, anyway? Is he some kind of slave driver?"

I blanched at that. I was surprised she had gotten the same story that I had in the beginning, that Brady simply worked for Sam. I wasn't exactly sure what she knew and I didn't want to give anything away so I decided to change the subject. "Will they even let him into the dance? He's like, nine."

She picked up one of the magazines and hit me with it. "He's fourteen. And stop making fun of his age!"

"Well, it is kind of weird," I pointed out.

"No, it's not," she said defensively. "Seth's a year younger than you and you don't seem to have a problem with that!"

"Seth is only six months younger than me," I retorted. "And Brady is still in middle school!"

"In a couple years, that kind of age difference wouldn't even matter," she said, her voice soft.

I think I might have gone too far, hurt her feelings a little, but I didn't want her to get involved with a member of the pack. It wasn't that I selfishly wanted them all to myself, but hanging out with them was dangerous. There were vampires, the constant worrying that they were putting themselves in danger, the possibility that they could lose their temper and phase too close, and I wasn't even sure if he had imprinted on her. If he had then there was nothing I could do, but if he hadn't… well, that could harm her in the end as well. I thought it would be better if Lydia avoided the supernatural beings in La Push all together. "Yeah, in a few years it wouldn't be so bad, but _right now_ it's kind of weird," I said carefully.

She sighed in annoyance before forcefully opening the magazine in her hand and glaring down at it as she flipped through the pages. I knew I had upset her but I wasn't quite sure what to say, not feeling completely apologetic. I was just trying to protect her. I opened a magazine up as well but I couldn't focus on anything inside. My thoughts were firmly centered on Lydia and Brady. What if he _had_ imprinted on her? I knew all too well the strange, reciprocating pull that an imprintee felt. It was so intense that it was a little scary, and if that was the case, I should probably be supportive instead of trying to make her feel bad about it. But he couldn't have imprinted, right? I mean, what were the odds of that happening? I would have noticed if he had, wouldn't I? The night I first met Seth, he had been acting so strangely that I'm sure it had been obvious that something was up to the people who knew him. Brady had been acting fairly normal, I think. I didn't really know him well enough to make that kind of judgment.

Lydia must have noticed the black shoebox on the floor by my bed. "Did you go shopping?" she asked suddenly, her voice a strange mixture of amusement and annoyance. She jumped off the bed before I could say anything and opened the box, her eyes going wide once she saw what was inside. "Oh my God," she practically shouted. "When did you get these?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, before I was grounded." I hated lying to her, especially when it was such a horrible lie – why would I have gone to get those stupid death traps after I fought so hard against buying them – but what else could I say? _"Oh yeah, you remember that girl whose fashion sense you envied so much? Well, she's my new fanged BFF and she bought them for me."_ I'm sure that would have gone over well.

She was still staring at those horrible shoes with wide eyes, an amazed expression on her face. It was as if she had just found the Holy Grail. "But where did you get them?" she asked in a reverent whisper.

"The mall," I replied, though it sounded more like a question than an answer. Where the hell else would I have gotten a pair of shoes?

She looked up quickly and narrowed her eyes at me. "There's no way you got these at the mall! No store in all of Port Angeles sells Christian Louboutin!"

"I meant in Boston," I explained. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. "I got them right before I came here." I really hoped these weren't some kind of brand new, hard to find shoes or I was going to be completely caught in my lie.

Lydia still looked a little skeptical. "But these are nine hundred dollar shoes."

I had to look away from her so she wouldn't see my eyes bug out. Who in their right mind would spend that much on a pair of shoes? I shrugged my shoulders, trying to seem nonchalant. "My dad left me a little bit of money so I just decided to buy them."

"I didn't know you were such an impulse shopper," she replied, although she looked like she was finally starting to believe me.

"I'm not," I said. "I was just really upset."

She sat down next to me, still holding the box of shoes as if it were a baby, and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had these?"

I smiled sheepishly at her. "Well, I'm not so certain that I can actually walk in them without killing myself."

"I can teach you!" she said excitedly.

I took the shoebox from her gently. "I don't think that's such a good idea, Lyd."

She looked so offended that I almost gave in right then. "Oh come on, Liz," she said adamantly, her hands reaching for the box. "You can't own a pair of shoes like this and not wear them! I mean, it's practically blasphemous."

* * *

**A/N:** A huge thank you goes out to lannie1102 for betaing this! And thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! This one is a bit of a filler chapter I guess, but the next will have the dance in it :) I hope you guys like it anyways. Let me know what you think! And happy holidays to everyone celebrating right now :)


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Lydia spent the rest of the night making me pace the room in those shoes like I was some kind of show pony. In the end, it did help; I was much better at keeping my balance in them by the time she left. However, I wasn't perfect yet, which was why she insisted on coming over again. She seemed determined to make sure I could run a marathon in those shoes and she stated that we had many hairdos and make up styles to try out so we could look our best for our dates. Normally, I would have rolled my eyes at her, but her excitement was starting to wear off on me. It was nice knowing that I would be able to get one night of normalcy before everything possibly went to hell. And I couldn't deny that I was looking forward to spending a couple hours with Seth where no one was watching us too closely, making sure that we didn't do anything 'inappropriate.'

Lydia had been right about Chase as well. He didn't seem to mind that she was basically ditching him. The reason he had decided to go with her was because he thought his mom was getting suspicious of the fact that he never seemed to date anyone. At least he had a good excuse for going to the dance alone this time.

The days seemed to fly by after that, even though I desperately wished time would slow down. Everything was so strangely normal; it was hard to believe that what could possibly be the end of my world was quickly approaching. The dreams continued, although they hadn't changed since Edward had been in my room, but others had started to occur frequently as well. One involved Seth and I in the backseat of some car and I can't deny that I enjoyed it, but the other one was not as pleasant. In it, I was at Emily's house, despite the fact that it seemed to be deserted. The doors and windows were locked and wouldn't budge whenever I tried to escape, so the only thing that I could do was sit and wait as the worry and panic overtook me to the point where I thought I would go crazy.

I barely got to see Seth or any of the Cullens in the days leading up the winter formal. Alice came by only once, appearing as soon as Lydia left. She seemed disappointed that I was letting Lydia do my hair and make up instead of her but she was also impressed by Lydia's skill. She had a few ideas that I suggested to Lydia, who declared that I was a genius and looked at me as if I were seriously holding back on her.

Seth was incredibly busy with the pack. Sam had them running more patrols than ever, and the arrival of all of the allies that the Cullens had managed to find seemed to set off the werewolf gene in even more boys, the newest ones only a few months younger than Colin. The pack was also busy learning the best ways to fight these vampires, who Seth had claimed would be much harder to fight than the newborns they had faced earlier in the year. Seth had also been trying to help Edward and Jacob practice Bella's ability to see if she could manage get everyone protected underneath her force field, but I didn't know how that was progressing. It had been difficult, only being able to talk to Seth on the phone while he risked his life with a newly changed vampire, but he assured me that he did not smell appetizing to her. I missed him much more than I should have, which was why I was extremely excited when I got home from school that Friday afternoon. I knew that I was going to finally see Seth again that night because the last time I spoke to him he had mentioned that Sam didn't mind letting him and Brady off for the dance. Even if Sam had objected, I was so determined to see my boyfriend that I would have gone down to La Push and searched the woods until I found him.

Lydia had instructed me to put my dress on as soon as I got home and then wait for her to come back with her own dress so we could get ready together. I raced up the stairs but stopped short when I saw Emma sitting on my bed. "Hey Aunt Emma," I said, looking at her in confusion. We had been getting along much better lately, mostly because I had gotten better at leaving notes and calling her to let her know where I was, but she had this strange look on her face. I was suddenly worried that she was going to change her mind and forbid me from going to the dance.

"Hi," she said brightly, although it sounded forced. That was when I noticed the bag in her hand, white plastic with the local pharmacy logo on it. I dropped my backpack in shock; I could already tell that I was in a lot of trouble. She noticed what I was staring at and cleared her throat. "I wanted to borrow your headphones so I looked in the drawer that I thought you kept them in. I found these instead. Would you like to explain why you have a box of condoms stashed in your nightstand?"

"I haven't opened them," I said. For some reason, I thought that was very important to point out.

She stared at me, her face a mixture of disappointment and anger. "I can't tell if that's a good thing or not," she replied.

"Look, you're always going on about how important it is to practice safe sex!" I said defensively, though I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that I had said the wrong thing. Her eyes went wide and she looked like she had something stuck in her throat, probably my new punishment, so I cut her off before she could start yelling. "I just figured I should be prepared, you know, just in case…"

She seemed a little comforted by this, although not by much. "So you and Seth aren't –"

I cut her off before she could say it. I don't know why but I found it extremely embarrassing when she brought up sex and I always had a hard time looking her in the eye afterwards. "No," I said firmly. "I'm still a virgin, so you don't have to be so worried."

She nodded, somewhat mollified by my response. "Okay, that's good to know. But Liz, I still think we should talk about this. I mean, you're obviously thinking about it."

I tried to hold in a groan. Why did we have to do this now? Lydia was going to be coming back in any second. Besides, I made it perfectly clear that Seth and I weren't doing anything so what was there to talk about? "Okay," I said, looking at her in confusion.

She smiled, probably noticing the reluctance in my voice. "I just think it's time that I took you to see one of the gynecologists at the hospital. You know, condoms aren't one hundred percent effective at preventing either sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy, so you might want to consider taking birth control if you're serious about being prepared. Although, I think the both of you are much too young to –"

I stopped her then. My face had gotten so hot that I was certain it was about to explode. "Aunt Emma, Seth and I aren't having sex."

"Yet," she pointed out. "It's important that you are smart about it when you decide you're ready." She cleared her throat then, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Are you ready?"

I didn't think it was possible to blush even more but I was sure that my face was the same color as a tomato. I mean, she had basically just asked me if I wanted to sleep with Seth. "I don't know," I whispered in confusion. "Maybe? Seth and I haven't really talked about it."

"Well, it's very important that you do," she said. It was so strange, as if she had two sides to her, the overly worried aunt and the clinical nurse, and I wasn't sure which I preferred. I never knew when the overprotective aunt would fly off the handle but the nurse got way too personal for my liking. "And," she continued, frowning as she went on, "while I don't want you to think I condone this, because I definitely do not, I do think that you should both get tested before you do anything, just in case."

"Okay," I muttered, staring resolutely at my feet. Yeah, I liked the overprotective aunt much more at the moment.

She sighed as she watched me, deciding to change the subject. "Are you excited for the dance tonight?"

"Yeah," I answered, trying to appear like I wanted to continue the conversation when I would have preferred to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. "It should be fun. I need to change, though. Lydia was just going home to get her dress before coming back here."

"Right," she said, getting off my bed. I couldn't help noticing that she left the bag with the condoms in it on my bed. She got to the doorway and stopped, turning around to watch me as I grabbed my dress from the closet.

"What?" I asked, terrified that the sex talk was going to continue.

"I was asked to pick up the third shift tonight for my friend, Evelyn, which was why I wanted to borrow your headphones in the first place," she explained. "But now I'm not so sure if that's a good idea."

I didn't know how to answer that. "I'm not going to do anything, Aunt Emma. You can trust me," I said, even though I was positive that she didn't believe me. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I believed myself.

She looked at me for a moment, her eyes critical as she thought it over. "I think Seth is in love with you," she blurted out, apparently deciding to put all of her cards on the table. It actually made me feel better, knowing that she was being completely honest with me.

I decided to return the favor. "I think I'm in love with him, too." She pursed her lips for a moment, as if she was deciding whether or not to believe me, and then she started to laugh. "What's so funny?" I asked, feeling a little offended. I had told her the truth and she was laughing at me. That didn't really make me want to share my feelings with her again.

"You know, Sue and I tried so hard to set Leah and Ben up and I could never understand why Harry was so against it," she said, her tone implying that she completely understood now. "Just promise me that you'll wait until you're both ready."

"Okay," I agreed quickly, hoping that she was finished now.

"And no sleepovers tonight! Don't think I won't come home on my lunch break to check on you," she threatened.

"I promise, Aunt Emma. I won't do anything," I said, hoping she wasn't completely serious about checking on me. I was hoping I could get at least a little bit of alone time with Seth after the dance tonight. The doorbell rang. "Shoot, that must be Lydia."

Emma nodded. "I'm going to take a quick nap before I have to go in tonight. But wake me up before you leave! I want to see you all dressed up!" She smiled before turning serious again. "And remember what I said, Elizabeth. No sleepovers!"

"Okay," I laughed, rolling my eyes at her as I went downstairs to open the door. "I get it."

I let Lydia in then and she gasped when she saw me. "Liz! Why aren't you dressed yet? We only have two hours and forty-seven minutes until we have to go get the boys!"

I could hear Emma laughing at the top of the stairs. "Well, you ladies better hurry up then!" Lydia nodded in agreement before dragging me back up to my bedroom so I could get changed.

* * *

We had to leave a little later than Lydia wanted, although it was completely her fault. She acted like I was to blame because I waited until she showed up to change but I still think it wouldn't have taken her so long to do her hair if she hadn't spent the whole afternoon texting Brady. I couldn't really hold a grudge against her, though. She had made me look very nice; so nice, in fact, that I had trouble recognizing myself in the mirror. The dress looked fantastic, just like Lydia had said it would. The dark blue fabric seemed to make the light blue color of my eyes stand out. My hair fell in soft ringlets and she had done my make up in a way that enhanced my features without going completely overboard. Even Emma had looked amazed at how good I looked; she started to tear up before demanding that I make Sue take extra pictures for her.

I was still a little nervous when we reached Seth's house. I was sure that something would come up and Seth and Brady wouldn't be allowed to come, so I was ready to get out of there as quickly as I could. Sue was the one to open the door and her eyes went wide as she took us in. "Liz, you look beautiful!" She told me before turning and introducing herself to Lydia. "You look wonderful too, dear. I'm Sue Clearwater."

I didn't pay attention to the rest of their introduction because Seth had just appeared in the hallway, his eyes wide and strangely intense as he looked me over. "It's great to see you again," I said, quickly shaking her hand before rushing over to her son and throwing my arms around him. His presence had its familiar affect, making me feel complete and invincible, and I was too happy to be ashamed by it.

"Wow, Liz," he said, pulling away from the embrace so he could look me over again. "You look amazing."

I could feel myself blushing as I smiled up at him. "You look very nice yourself," I said. He was wearing a pair of black pants, a blue shirt that matched the color of my dress exactly, and a skinny black tie.

"Let me just go get my camera!" Sue said, her voice strangely choked up some reason.

"Mom, that's not –" Seth started to protest, his skin darkening in embarrassment, but she completely ignored him as she rushed out of the room. I fingered the material of his shirt, which was really soft despite the fact that it looked brand new, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. He sighed as he explained, "Alice gave it to me. She said I needed to wear it so we could match."

"Oh," I laughed, shaking my head. I wasn't sure why Alice was so interested in our going to this dance, but I definitely would have to thank her later. Seth pulled me close again and buried his face in my hair, sending shivers down my spine. I knew I had to put the brakes on quickly; Lydia would kill me if I let Seth mess up my make up before we even reached the dance.

I looked over at my friend and Brady, off in their own world and giggling about something, and I couldn't help frowning. "You're sure he didn't imprint, right?" I asked again. It was the first thing I had asked Seth after Emma had freed me and while he was adamant that it hadn't happened, I still had a hard time believing him.

"Yes," he sighed in annoyance. "Believe me, Liz. I know what imprinting feels like and Brady definitely did not imprint."

I looked at him in confusion. I wasn't sure why he seemed so angry that I wanted to protect my friend but his mom came back before I got the chance to ask. She had a small digital camera in one hand and was wiping her eyes with the Kleenex she held in the other. I wasn't the only one to notice, either. "Mrs. Clearwater, are you alright?" Lydia asked in concern.

"I'm fine," she answered, smiling kindly. "Oh, it seems like just yesterday Seth was in diapers, and now he's going off to his first school dance! I just wish your father could be here to see this."

"Mom," Seth grumbled, clearly mortified. But he didn't even try to stop her as she tried to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt, probably knowing she needed that moment to reconcile the memories of a tiny baby with the incredibly large man that stood in front of her.

Brady picked up on the awkwardness that was filling the room. "Are you going to take those pictures now, Mrs. Clearwater? I think we have to leave soon."

"Oh yes," she said, flustered. She blew her nose loudly before making us all line up in a row to snap some shots. Apparently Emma had already spoken to her because she took extras of me and Seth without me having to say anything. Then she hurried us out the door, telling us she hoped we all had a good time.

"Aw, Sethy-poo is all grown up!" Brady said once the door was closed, reaching over and messing up Seth's hair.

Seth punched Brady in the arm, causing his friend to fall back against Lydia's car. "Shut the hell up, Brady," he muttered before ducking into the backseat.

Brady scowled at his friend, probably a little annoyed that he couldn't get him back when there were humans present. Lydia and I shared the same exasperated look. _Boys_. I followed Seth into the car, not bothering to latch my seatbelt as I snuggled up next to him. "I thought it was cute," I pointed out, hoping it wouldn't offend him. Then again, I would think that anything that involved Seth was adorable.

He rolled his eyes at me before brushing a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "I think you're beautiful."

"Oh, gag me," Lydia joked from the front seat as she started the drive to Forks High.

"Don't hate just because you're jealous," I shot back.

"Hey now," Brady said, placing his arm around Lydia. "My girl has no reason to be jealous of the two of you."

I really wanted to say something back, preferably something about how he was way too young to even know what to do with a girl, but the elated blush on Lydia's face stopped me. I didn't want to ruin her time with Brady, even if I didn't approve. I could always take comfort in the fact that he didn't imprint on her, although that meant he would have to kindly wait until she was done with him before he did. "Sorry," Seth whispered. "He can be really obnoxious." I smiled at him, finding it impossible to even care about what Brady was doing with my best friend when he was that close to me.

"Hey!" Lydia suddenly yelled from the front seat, startling everyone else in the car. "Do _not_ mess up her make up, Seth!" He rolled his eyes at her but pulled away, instead choosing to reach out and hold my hand. We spent the rest of the ride listening to Lydia and Brady talk about the DJ the school had hired.

We met up with Chase, Sammy and Will at the dance. I couldn't deny that Lydia had been right; I was having a blast. There was a photographer taking pictures of couples and groups of friends in front of a terrible backdrop the color of burnt orange. One side of the bleachers used for basketball games was set up, with a diverse group of students sitting along it. The DJ played a lot of songs with loud, fast beats that I could feel reverberating in my bones. Despite not knowing half of the songs he played, I spent most of the night out on the crowded dance floor with Seth. I had been worried that he would have thought the dance was stupid - he obviously had more important things to do – but it seemed like he was having just as much fun as I was, both of us finally able to forget about the upcoming fight. And Alice had been right; the shoes had made slow dancing with my ridiculously tall boyfriend a little easier.

It was still a little difficult, though, which is why I had decided to sit out the song that was currently playing. I was sitting on one of the higher bleachers, watching my friends on the dance floor. Seth was sprawled out next to me, his long legs up on the seat in front of us. He was smiling widely and had his arm was around my shoulders. I could feel his deep brown eyes on my face but I was having a hard time taking my eyes off Lydia and Brady, who were dancing extremely close. "You're still worried about them, aren't you?" he asked.

"A little," I said, smiling apologetically at him.

He got a sad look on his face when he replied, "Is it really that bad?"

"Is what really that bad?" I asked. I really had no idea what he was talking about.

"Dating a werewolf," he explained in a whisper, looking around to make sure that no one was listening in.

"No!" I said quickly, surprised he would even think that. "Of course not. Seth, you are the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's just… are you sure he didn't imprint?"

He shook his head at me. "I'm positive," he said, trying to hold in a laugh. "Why do you keep asking me that?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I just don't understand why he's leading her on if he didn't."

Seth jumped to his friend's defense. "He's not leading her on. They're just on a date. It's not like they're planning to run off and get married once the dance ends."

I smirked, "I wouldn't put that past Lydia."

He laughed and rolled his eyes at me, reaching out to touch my face. "So what's bothering you then?"

"I don't know," I sighed, snuggling up against him. "I just don't understand why he's even dating her if he didn't imprint."

Seth's brow furrowed in confusion. "What is he supposed to do, sit at home and not have any fun until he imprints?"

"No," I said. It did seem a little ridiculous when I looked at it from that angle. I just didn't understand what would happen to the girl he was dating when he imprinted. Why would he want to do something like that to her? "He can have fun, just not with my friends."

He laughed and elbowed me in the side. "Do you have a list of all the girls the pack should avoid, then?"

I smiled at him. "I'm sure I could come up with one in a couple days." He snorted at that and shook his head. There was something he said that was bothering me, though, so I decided to ask, "Do you regret imprinting before you could have any fun?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Who says I didn't have fun?" he asked.

"Oh really?" I laughed, pulling away from him. "And who exactly did you have this fun with?"

He smiled his big wide grin that always made my knees weak and poked my nose. "You're cute with you're jealous." Before I could reply, his large hand was on the back of my head and he pulled me in for a short, intense kiss. "Of course I don't regret it," he whispered when he was done. "I wouldn't trade imprinting on you for anything."

"Good," I said softly. I leaned in and kissed him then, trying to match the intensity of the previous kiss. His hand went to the back of my head again, holding me in place as his lips moved over mine. It felt as if the warmth from his lips was slowly making its way through my body. I was starting to get really into it when someone cleared their throat behind us. I looked up and saw Sammy and Will grinning down at us.

"I don't think that's appropriate school behavior," Sammy smirked.

"Oh please," I retorted. "You two have done much worse in the middle of the cafeteria."

Sammy rolled her eyes before answering me. "We're going to get out of here. Do you guys need a ride?"

I looked over at Seth and asked, "Do you want to come over for a little while? Emma's working late."

He looked at me in surprise. "Sure," he answered, standing up quickly.

Will snickered. "Someone's a little eager."

Sammy elbowed him in the side. "Like you're one to talk! You've been begging me to leave since we got here."

"Can you blame me?" he asked as he leaned in to kiss her.

Their kiss turned intense very quickly and I was starting to feel a little awkward, standing there and watching them. "Right," I said. "I'm going to let Lydia know we're leaving. I'll meet you guys in the parking lot."

"Are you sure you want me to come over?" Seth asked as he followed me down the bleachers.

"Of course. I've wanted to be alone with you all night."

He smiled as he took my hand. "Yeah, but are you sure Emma won't find out? I don't want you to get in trouble again."

"Yeah," I replied. "You just have to use the back door. Alice disabled the camera back there a couple of weeks ago and Emma hasn't gotten around to fixing it yet." He nodded, not seeming to mind that he would have to sneak in. "And you can't stay all night. She's probably going to come home on her break to make sure I'm home alone. Apparently, we still have some trust issues to work through."

"Gee, I wonder why," he laughed, although he did look excited to go to my completely adult-free home.

We said goodbye to Brady and Lydia before meeting up with Will and Sammy at her Jeep. The ride home was silent, or at least I think it was. I was so wrapped up in Seth that a nuclear bomb could go off and I wouldn't have noticed. He had his arm around my shoulders, his hand slowly rubbing my arm, and his gaze was incredibly intense as he looked into my eyes. I was surprised when we reached my house. Sammy rushed us out of her car, clearly eager for whatever she had planned with Will, and I led Seth over to the woods that surrounded my house. We snuck through the trees to my back yard so I could get Seth in the house without any cameras seeing him.

"All this sneaking around is making me feel like James Bond," he laughed.

I started humming the Mission Impossible theme as I led him up to my room. I kicked my shoes off as soon as I got in the door, glad to finally get those monstrous heels off. "My feet are killing me," I complained.

Seth placed his hand on my hip and pulled me over to him. "I like those shoes," he laughed before kissing me. It started off sweet and playful but quickly turned into something more. He smiled at me dreamily as he pulled away. "So when is Emma getting home?"

"I'm not sure," I answered, trying to grab my pajamas so I could quickly change. "But you need to listen for her, okay? She will murder the both of us if she catches you here."

"I'll be on high alert then," he said, sitting down on the bed. His attention turned to the bag on my bed as I tried to find the make-up remover I had thrown somewhere on my messy desk. "Uh, Liz?" he asked, his voice strangely low as he held up the box of condoms. "What's this?"

"Oh my God," I said, my face turning red. I couldn't believe I had forgotten to put those away after this afternoon's ridiculous talk with Emma. I raced over to the bed and tried to grab the box out of his hands but he jumped off the bed and held it out of my reach.

"Liz, please," Seth said. His reaction was completely unexpected, a strange mixture of bewilderment and fear on his face.

"Alice bought them," I said softly, suddenly finding it very hard to look him in the eye. "I think as some kind of joke. I tried hiding them but Emma found it this afternoon–"

"Emma found them?" he asked in alarm, probably realizing that there was no way Emma wouldn't soon tell his mother about it as well. "And she still let you go out?"

"Yeah, but only after I got the mother of all sex lectures," I replied, shuddering at the memory. "It was terrible, just like I was back in Sex Ed, except with Emma." He laughed at that but stopped abruptly when he looked back down at the box in his hands. "Look, Seth, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I wasn't expecting anything to happen tonight."

He sighed in relief. "Okay, good." I was a little hurt by his response, and he must have noticed my wince because he rushed to continue, "No! Don't take that the wrong way! It's just… I don't think I'm ready for… _that_ tonight."

"Okay," I said, trying to smile back at him. It was a relief, in a way. I knew I was in love with Seth and I definitely planned on sleeping with him in the not-so-distant future, I just wasn't sure if I was ready for it quite yet. When I was around him I was ready to jump him right then and there. But whenever I was about to take a step back and actually think about it, the fact that I had just met him only a few short weeks ago made me think I wasn't ready quite yet. I was glad that he had made the decision for me for this night.

The room was filled with this awkward tension, though, and I desperately needed to get out of there, if only for a couple minutes. I turned so my back was to him and held my hair over one shoulder. "Will you unzip my dress so I can change?" He moved behind me, slowly lowering the zipper on my back. It felt like all the tension in the room was finally coming to a point at that moment. I could feel the warmth of his hand ghosting down my back and it was suddenly hard to breathe. He was moving incredibly slowly, as if he were trying to torture me. I couldn't hold in a gasp when he reached the end and then used his knuckle to trace the line of the zipper up my newly exposed back. I turned to look at him, even though I wasn't quite sure I would be able to control myself, and muttered, "Thanks."

He swallowed hard. His eyes were so intense as he took in my face that I thought he was trying to read my mind. "Go change, Liz," he said suddenly, his voice taking on an authoritative quality that reminded me of Sam. His eyes said something completely different though, filled with just as much longing as I felt, and I had a very hard time turning away from him. My breath was ragged as I walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Well, at least I now knew that he was having as much trouble controlling his hormones as I was.

I changed quickly, putting on the short shorts and tank top I always wore when Seth was around so I wouldn't get heat stroke. It took me a little while to brush all of the product out of my hair and wash away all the make-up but I was pleased when I could actually recognize myself when I was done. When I got back to my room, I found Seth sitting on my bed, leaning back against the headboard. His tie was undone and hanging loosely over his shoulders and he had unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt. His hair was sticking up all over the place, as if he had just spent the last ten minutes running his hands through it. His smile lit up his face when he saw me and I had no trouble returning it. I sat down next to him on the bed and asked, "You had fun tonight, right?"

"Of course," he replied, pulling me close to him.

"Okay, good," I said, curling up against his side. "I was scared you might think it was lame, considering… you know, what's happening on Sunday."

I could feel him shaking his head. "No," he said, laughing softly. "I can forget about all of that when I'm with you."

"That's funny," I replied. "I feel the same way about you."

I turned to see the smile on his face. "Good," he said softly. He reached up and slowly started to run his hand through my hair. The feeling was so incredibly soothing that I closed my eyes and sunk into his side. I felt so incredibly content in that moment that I wished it could last forever, or at least until the battle royale with the Italians was over. "You're so beautiful." I rolled my eyes at him and he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What, you still don't believe me?"

"No," I laughed, a little surprised by how offended he sounded. "Maybe before but not now, when I'm back to normal, regular Liz."

He shook his head in disbelief. "No," he said, his voice urgent and firm. "I mean, yes, you looked gorgeous earlier. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely bringing you to the next formal dance at my school so I can show you off to everyone there. But I like you best like this, when you're "normal Liz."" He made air quotes when he said that, as if he didn't quite believe there was anything normal about me. I smiled shyly at him, the blood rushing to my face as he stroked my cheek. "Believe me, Liz. You look the best when you're like this." His words, and the fact that he couldn't seem to keep his hands off me, made my heart beat so hard that it felt like it was going to explode out of my chest. I couldn't control myself any longer and I turned to face him, placing my legs on the sides of his hips so that I was straddling him, and kissed him hard. I tried to pour everything into that kiss, all the love and desire I felt for him at that moment along with all of the anxiety that was building inside of me as Sunday got closer. One of his hands moved to the back of my head, holding me in place as he kissed me back just as fiercely. The other hand moved down my back. The fabric of my shirt was incredibly thin and I could feel the goose bumps rising at his touch. We were both gasping for breath when we finally came up for air.

"What was that for?" he asked breathlessly.

"Look," I said softly, hoping that I wasn't being too forward. "Just because we've decided not to… you know, do it yet, doesn't mean there isn't anything else we could do."

"I like the way you think," he teased, his warm brown eyes seeming to sparkle in the dim light of my bedroom. Then he pulled me in for another kiss, my body pressed hard against his, and I couldn't hold in the moan rising up my throat.

* * *

**A/N:** This is a bit of a long one, I hope you guys don't mind :) Thank you to everyone that reviewed the last chapter! I hope you guys like this one just as much. And a huge thank you goes out to lannie1102 for betaing this!


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

Saturday was tortuously slow. In fact, there were points when I was certain some supernatural being was freezing time entirely. I wasn't able to distract myself from the thoughts of what was going to happen tomorrow. No matter what I did, I always ended up curled into a ball, gnawing on my fingernails as quick shots of my nightmares flashed across my mind. Last night's dream had been exactly the same, the scene not varying a bit from the one I'd had when they made their decision to come to Forks. This was starting to worry me as well. What if that dream was an actual prophesy of what was going to happen? Would we really lose that many people? And what if those creepy child vampires actually managed to hurt Seth? The mere thought of it made me hang up on Lydia as she recounted the kiss she had shared with Brady the night before for what felt like the fifteenth time. Luckily, she didn't call back after that. I'm sure I had upset her but I was also certain that I would be able to get her to forgive me later. Frankly, it was Chase or Sammy's turn to listen to her ramble on about how perfect the boy was. I was so preoccupied with worry that I wasn't even able to focus on homework, the equations in my chemistry book all blurred together until they were all just unintelligible scribbles, and I just stared blankly at the computer screen when I tried to work on my English paper. By late afternoon I had given up on trying to get anything done, instead choosing to pace my bedroom.

Fortunately, Emma spent most the day sleeping so she couldn't notice my strange behavior. Of course, that didn't stop us from having an incredibly awkward breakfast. She had been over the moon when she burst into my room at six o'clock in the morning to find me alone. The fact that I had left the box of condoms out in plain sight so she could see that they were still unopened didn't hurt, either. Of course, that didn't stop her from naming every common sexually transmitted disease and describing their symptoms and side effects in full detail while I tried to eat my cereal. She didn't get up until right before dinner, when the doorbell rang.

I was hesitant to answer it. I hadn't spoken to anyone but Lydia that day and I was pretty sure she was angry with me. My thoughts were all over the place as I suddenly pictured that long-haired vampire standing on my doorstep. It took me a moment to realize that he wouldn't bother ringing the doorbell. I'm pretty sure that if he wanted to come in, he would simply knock the door off its hinges. By that time, Emma was coming down the stairs. "Lizzie, what's wrong with you?" she asked, eyeing me suspiciously as she tried to flatten her hair. The doorbell rang again as she looked out the peephole, her face breaking into a wide smile. She opened the door to reveal Sue Clearwater. "Sue! What a wonderful surprise!"

I almost let out a sigh of relief when I saw Seth standing behind his mother. "Seth and I were just in the neighborhood and I decided to stop by," she said as she stepped into the house. "I kind of need to ask you for a favor."

Her excuse for randomly showing up was a little flimsy. I knew she was only doing it so she could make sure Emma spent tomorrow in La Push, but Emma didn't seem the least but suspicious. She was too busy watching Seth as he followed his mother into the house and enveloped me in his arms. "Not at all! It's great to see you," I heard her answer. "I actually wanted to speak with you about something too so this is perfect." She cleared her throat then and stared pointedly at me. "Liz, why don't you and Seth take Sophie for her walk?"

I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes at her. I couldn't wait until she trusted me again because her determination to keep the two of us away from any flat surfaces was starting to get a little ridiculous. "Alright," I said, pulling away from Seth so I could grab the dog's leash.

Seth followed me as I took the dog outside, chuckling once the front door was closed behind us. "Wow, you guys really do have some trust issues."

"What are you laughing about?" I scowled. "She only wanted us out of the house so she could tell your mom about the condoms she found in my room."

"Shit," Seth muttered. "My mom is not going to take that well."

I couldn't help agreeing with him. I mean, the woman had been in tears last night because he was going to a dance. I could only imagine what her reaction would be when she found out that her baby was at least thinking about having sex. I made a mental note to avoid Sue Clearwater for the next couple days, or the rest of my life, if I could somehow manage it. Seth took the leash from me and held my hand as we walked down the street. I checked to make sure that none of the neighbors were around before I asked, "So what's going on?"

"Jacob, Embry and Jasper are in the clearing now," he said. "We still think they won't be showing up until late tomorrow morning but they want to be there, just in case they show up early. If not, the rest of us are going tomorrow."

I blanched at that. "You're going too?"

"Yeah," he smiled, actually looking happy about it. "Actually, almost the whole pack is going. Only the new guys are staying behind and that's really only because they're too inexperienced at fighting vampires."

"But why isn't Sam concerned about protecting the rez anymore?" I asked. My anxiety was building quickly again at the thought of Seth being in that clearing.

Seth shrugged. "Well, if we lose to those vampires then the rez doesn't really stand a chance anyways. It would make more sense to have everyone that can fight on hand."

"Oh," I said softly. I guess that made sense, but it still didn't mean I wanted Seth out there. I realized I was being extremely selfish but I didn't particularly care.

Seth stopped suddenly and cupped my chin with his overly large hand, forcing me to look up at him. "You don't have to worry about me, Liz," he said, smiling softly. "I do know how to fight vampires. I've done it before."

I bit my lip. "That would be impossible, Seth. It doesn't matter how many times you've done this before, I'm always going to worry about you." He kissed me softly before allowing Sophie to pull him along.

We walked in silence after that, too lost in thought to try to make conversation. I was realizing that as slow and torturous as this day had been, tomorrow would be ten times worse. There was no way I would be able to hold it together while he was out fighting those vampires. If anything happened to him… well, I couldn't even make myself think about that. I would just have to try and use the power of positive thought. He _would_ be okay and make it back to me. There was no other option.

After I was finally able to calm myself down enough to speak, I asked, "So how is your mom planning to get Emma on the reservation tomorrow?"

"She's going to ask her to help teach a CPR class at the high school." It was actually a pretty good excuse. "And, uh…" he continued, suddenly embarrassed, "well, Brady wants you to ask Lydia to meet you in La Push for a couple hours tomorrow. He's pretty worried about her."

"I'll try," I said, not that surprised by the request. I would have been upset if he didn't care enough about my friend to try and keep her safe from a bunch of blood thirsty super vampires. "I think she might be mad at me, though."

Seth laughed. "What did you do this time?"

I smiled sheepishly at him, feeling my cheeks color. "I might have hung up on her earlier. She just kept going on and on about how great Brady was and I was too preoccupied to pay attention to her."

Seth laughed even harder at that. "Brady was the same way on patrol this morning."

"Well, at least we know they're a good match, then," I smiled. I couldn't deny that they seemed good together now, even if I still wasn't exactly thrilled about their relationship.

We had made it around the block by then and reached Emma's house. Sue was waiting for Seth by her car. Her eyes were hard as she looked up at the two of us and her smile was forced. Oh yeah, Emma had definitely told her about the condoms. Seth seemed to realize this too because he cursed under his breath when he noticed the expression on his mother's face.

I couldn't help laughing. "Right, well, have a fun ride home," I said, taking the leash from him.

I started towards the door but he put a hand out to stop me. "Wait!" he said, suddenly sounding very anxious.

"Yeah?" I asked, looking at him curiously.

"I don't know if I'll get to see you tomorrow morning," he explained, placing his hands on either side of my face. "Just promise me that you'll do your best to stay safe."

I nodded. "You too. Promise me you'll be coming home tomorrow night."

It was a stupid thing to ask. There was no way he could actually promise something like that because no one knew what was going to happen tomorrow. However, that didn't stop him from saying, "I promise." He pulled me in for a kiss then, his lips moving desperately over mine. To be honest, the force of it frightened me, as if he wanted to make sure it was passionate just in case it was our last kiss. That thought haunted me as I finally made my way inside, determinedly ignoring his mother's eyes as I walked past her. What if this was the last time I saw him? I had gotten so attached to this boy so quickly that the mere thought of having to be without him scared the crap out of me.

I spent the rest of the night watching television with Emma. I tried to act as normal as possible but it didn't fool her for a second. She was convinced I was in the middle of a mild anxiety attack and kept trying to calm me down. After she asked me if I wanted to go to the emergency room to speak with the psychologist on call, I decided to go to my room. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep but at least I would be able to go to pieces in private.

I was incredibly surprised to find Alice perched on my bed when I opened my door. I hadn't really seen her in the past week, she had been too busy playing host to all the vampires that were supposed to help them fight the Volturi. Plus, my dream hadn't changed at all since the last time I had seen her so we really had no reason to talk. "What are you doing here?" I asked curiously, although I was happy to see her.

"Did you really think I wouldn't come over to see how the dance went?" she asked, smiling her perfect smile.

I couldn't help smiling back at her. "It was amazing."

"And did you wear the shoes I gave you?" I nodded and she said, "Didn't they make dancing with Seth easier?"

"I guess," I said. "Although I think my feet are going to be sore until next month."

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Then she smirked and held up the unopened box of condoms. "I see you didn't get any use out of these, though."

I frowned as I snatched the box out of her hands and threw it in my closet. "You know, I could stake you for giving me those. Emma found them yesterday and almost had a coronary."

Alice giggled, her laugh sounding like a chorus of bells. "I'm sorry, Liz. I thought she would have understood the importance of safe sex, being a nurse and everything."

"She does," I replied. "She just doesn't want me having safe sex, or any kind of sex at all for that matter. And now she seems to think that I'm going to rip my clothes off at any second and start humping her leg or something." Alice laughed even harder. "I'm serious, Alice! I'm surprised she hasn't locked me in here yet."

"Well, if it comes to that, I promise I'll help Seth break you out."

I rolled my eyes, deciding not to reply. "So what's going on? Shouldn't you be getting ready for tomorrow?"

Alice frowned. "Bella is working on her ability. I keep getting strange snippets of the future and it's starting to give me a headache. Plus, it's difficult being there when our guests come back from feeding."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Not all of them follow our diet and I can still smell it on them." She must have noticed the horrified look on my face because she said, "We can't force them all to live on animals, Liz. Especially when we've already asked them to go up against the Volturi with us. But don't worry, they're not feeding anywhere around here."

While that was a little comforting, it still meant that dead bodies were piling up somewhere else. I wondered what the pack thought about that, or if they even knew it was happening. I couldn't imagine that they'd actually approve. "How many did you find, anyways?"

"We've got about thirty staying with us right now," she answered.

"Do they all have special abilities too?" I asked. It was hard to imagine they'd stand a chance against the Italians if they didn't.

"No," she answered. Well, that wasn't a good sign. Before I could ask any more questions, she said, "Now tell me about the dance!"

I rolled my eyes before recounting the previous night. She made me go into excruciatingly detailed descriptions of everything, although I didn't really mind that much. It took my mind off our impending doom, anyways. Once I had finished, Alice explained their plans to me. Apparently about half of the vampires they had recruited had abilities, although she pointed out that they were really relying on Bella's power to work because it was the most useful. She was able to shield herself and others from all abilities, including the creepy mental ones that those weird kids had. The female one was able to make someone feel excruciating pain with just one look, even if though there was nothing physically causing it. The other one was able to cut off someone's senses entirely, so the Volturi would be able to eliminate opponents without any complications. Luckily, Bella had finally been able to get a grasp on her mental shield in the past few days. She had also been able to make it extend to others as well, although it didn't last for very long.

Eventually she had to leave, wanting to keep Jasper company as he waited in the clearing, but only after I made her promise that she would look out for Seth. I tried to sleep after that, although I spent more time staring at the ceiling than I did actually sleeping, and the few dreams I had were haunted by visions of my friends' deaths in that stupid clearing. Needless to say, I was up and ready to go to La Push by the time the sun started to rise. Despite the fact that I was trying to rush Emma out the door, desperate to try and see Seth one last time before he went to fight, we were late leaving and Emma had to go straight to La Push's tiny high school so that she could meet Sue. She tried getting me to stay with her, telling me I could get certified in CPR for free, but I declined. I didn't think I would be able to survive the day alone with the two of them, especially since she thought I was some kind of sex maniac and Sue probably thought I was corrupting her baby. I found my way to Emily's, snow starting to fall lightly as I walked through the woods. The boys had all left by the time I reached the tiny gray house and, judging by how fast the snow was falling, the fight would be starting soon.

Emily's house was actually a little crowded. Her sister was there with Claire and her other daughter, along with Kim and Rachel. The two girls were playing with their dolls while Kim and Rachel sat watching them with these tense, anxious looks on their faces. Emily and her sister were in the kitchen. She reminded me to invite Lydia over, although she called her Brady's girlfriend, before she went back to wiping the surfaces down as if she planned on turning it into some kind of sterile room. Her sister sat at the table, watching Emily with a worried expression on her face.

I waited until it was a reasonable hour to call Lydia, who promptly hung up on me. I had to call back three times before she picked up again, practically yelling, "What do you want, Liz? You made it perfectly clear that you didn't want to talk to me yesterday."

"Look, I'm sorry about that," I said. "But I can only take hearing about how soft Brady's lips are so many times before I start going crazy."

"I did not go over it that many times!" she said defensively.

"Lydia, you told me every detail about the whole dance at least five times," I pointed out. "Which was completely unnecessary, since I was there for most of it."

She ignored what I said and asked, "Where are you, anyways? I don't recognize this number."

"I'm in La Push," I answered.

"Oh," she said, sounding perplexed. "Have you seen Brady? He hasn't answered any of my texts today and –"

I cut her off, ready to deliver the lie I had thought up last night. "Actually, he and Seth just got called in to work for a little while but they were talking about having some kind of cook out when they got back. Brady told me to invite you."

I could practically hear the smile in her voice when she said, "Okay. When is it?"

"I'm not sure," I replied. "But I was kind of hoping you would come down here now and keep me company."

"Are you sure I won't drive you crazy?" she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm really sorry about that," I said sincerely.

"Oh, it's fine," she said. "I'll meet you at First Beach in half an hour, okay?" Then she hung up before I could answer.

I waited a little while before I walked to the beach, surprised to see that Lydia was already there, waiting in her car. I climbed in the passenger side and Lydia started questioning me as soon as I sat down, not even bothering to greet me. "What do Seth and Brady do, anyways? He's really evasive whenever I ask him."

I drew a complete blank, unsure of what to say. All I knew was that I definitely wouldn't be the one to tell her about the pack. "What has he told you?" I asked.

"Just that he works under the table for some guy named Sam Uley," she said.

"Yeah, that's all I've heard too," I lied.

"Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Not really," I said. "I don't really care, except when it cuts into our time together." I hoped that would satisfy her. I hated lying to her but Brady would have to the one to tell her about the whole shapeshifting thing, if he could even tell her at all. It was definitely something that you had to see to believe, and I'm sure she would think I was crazy if I mentioned it.

She frowned as she watched the waves rolling in. I could tell that she was trying to figure out what exactly was going on in La Push. I couldn't help but wonder if her theories were just as far-fetched as mine were in the beginning, before Seth showed me the truth by exploding into a giant wolf. Finally, she turned to me and asked, "Why are they having a cook out? And won't that be hard to do in the snow?"

"I think they were planning on staying inside," I laughed. Then I shrugged as I said, "Sam and his wife Emily are throwing it. I think everyone that works for him is going to be there."

She nodded, clearly interested in learning about what was happening down in La Push. Brady was definitely going to have a hard time keeping this from her. "So what do you want to do until then?"

"We can head over to Emily's now," I said. "I think a couple of the other guys' girlfriends are there, getting things ready."

"It won't be weird with me there?"

I looked at her in confusion. "Why would it be weird?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "Brady and I just started dating and now he's throwing me in with all of his friends without even being there. I just feel like it has the possibility to be really awkward."

I shrugged again. "What can I say? They move fast in La Push."

She snorted. "If that were true, you would have gotten laid last night."

"Hey!" I laughed, whacking her arm. "I told you, we've decided to wait until we know each other better."

"Prude," she muttered.

"You don't have to insult me just because you're nervous," I said.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Kind of," I smiled. "You don't need to worry, though. They're all really nice. And I'll be there in case it gets too overwhelming."

"Thanks, Liz," she said, smiling gratefully.

By the time we got back to Emily's place, Rachel had left to help her father with something. I introduced Lydia to everyone else and soon she was getting along with them better than I did. Emily and her sister were still cleaning the kitchen, something I noticed Emily did a lot when she was trying to distract herself, while Kim flipped through one of Emily's cook books. Lydia blended right in, talking about some chocolate and peanut butter cookie recipe she had found on the internet. I left her there, figuring she didn't my support, and joined Claire and her sister in playing dolls. Neither of them seemed to mind that I wasn't really paying attention.

Lydia sat down next to me after a while, picking up a Barbie and changing it into the outfit Claire handed her. "See?" I said, smiling at her. "I told you they were nice."

"They are," she agreed. "Are they always this jumpy, though?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, avoiding her eyes.

She narrowed her eyes at me, picking up on the lie easily. She didn't call me on it, though. Instead she turned to make sure the kids the kids weren't paying attention to us, they were too busy fighting over whose Barbie would get to wear the wedding gown, before whispering, "What happened to Emily, anyways?"

"Bear attack," I whispered back, giving her the same story that Emily had told everyone else. It was common knowledge in the pack that Sam had done it to her, though.

"Oh my God," she said. "Did it happen near –" She was cut off by a loud howl, one that sounded like it was coming from right outside the house. She looked alarmed as she turned to the window. "That sounded really close."

I wasn't paying attention to her, though. As soon as I heard the wolf's cry, I jumped up and ran into the kitchen, exchanging wide-eyed worried looks with Emily and Kim. The three of us turned and watched the front door, wondering what exactly was going on in the clearing at that moment.

* * *

**A/N:** So I am a sucky person. I keep saying I will post the rest of this story, and then I take off for months at a time without finally finishing it. I don't really have an excuse this time, except that I got the first four books from A Song of Ice and Fire for Christmas and they pretty much sucked up all of my free time. I've gotten so into that series that, frankly, I lost what little interest I had left in Twilight. I really will post the rest of the story this time, right after this one in fact. Sorry again and I hope you like the rest of this story!


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

**A/N:** Okay, I normally hate stories that randomly change POVs. However, I figured leaving this out would make the story almost as anti-climatic as _Breaking Dawn_ so… we will be back to Liz's POV in the next chapter. Anyways, this is unbeta-ed but I hope you enjoy it anyways!

* * *

_**Seth's POV:**_

We were all ready by the time the sun was rising on Sunday morning. Instead of hiding in the woods like last time, we were standing with the Cullens as we waited for the Volturi to show up. There was really no point in hiding since, according to Carlisle, one of the leaders of the Italian clan could read any thought you've ever had by simply touching you. It kind of ruined the whole element of surprise thing. A lot of the guys thought it was really creepy, although I didn't see how it was that different from the pack plural. I guess some of the older guys had gotten better at controlling their thoughts but I still had a lot of trouble with it. It was bad enough that the rest of them knew exactly what had happened between Liz and I on Friday night, I don't think Quil would ever stop teasing me for telling her that I wasn't ready to sleep with her just yet even though it was all I could think about it whenever I was awake, so I don't think it'd make much difference if some super-powered vampire knew that as well. And apparently he wasn't even the worst. There would be other vampires there with even creepier abilities. Like these two kids, Edward said they couldn't be older than twelve even though they've been around for centuries, that were able to get into your mind and either make you feel unendurable pain or cut off all your senses so you wouldn't realize they were tearing you to bits.

There was another one that Edward was worried about, too. She was a member of the guard and had the ability to manipulate relationships. One little bit of her power would make someone lose all loyalty they felt for their friends and family. Edward suspected this was how the Volturi was able to so easily recruit highly-skilled vampires from other covens. One of the leaders had gotten very interested in Alice and himself, and he was certain that the vampire would want to recruit Bella and Renesmee as well. He'd just need that bloodsucker to work a little bit of her magic and we would simply tear each other apart, leaving him free to make the four of them part of his creepy entourage.

Needless to say, we were all banking on Bella to protect us. It was so strange to think of her as superhuman now, I could still remember how clumsy and red-faced she'd been as a human, but she had one of the most useful abilities. She was able to block out all other powers around her. At first, she had simply done it unconsciously to all vampires that came close to her but she'd been working on controlling it for the past few weeks. She was now able to focus it, stopping one person from using their ability while allowing another person to use theirs. It never lasted very long, and she had never tried it on such a large group before. Still, we needed her to come through if we were even going to stand a chance against these Volturi. I could tell she was nervous, though. She was standing on the other side of the Cullens, talking anxiously with Edward and Jacob as Renesmee slept in her arms. She kept fidgeting a lot more than any vampire should.

There were a lot of other vampires standing with us, too. The Cullens had called on some of their friends to help them take a stand against the Volturi and I guess word had spread. Most of the vampires that had shown up were different from the Cullens, their dark crimson eyes giving away their diet, but it was hard to hold that against them when I considered the fact that they were willing to give their lives for my friends. A few had even demonstrated what they were able to do for the pack. One, a young man that was always arguing with this older Egyptian guy, was able to manipulate the elements. He could create hurricanes and tornadoes, cause earthquakes, even crack the earth underneath his feet wide open. It was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen. A tall Amazonian woman whose name I couldn't remember was able to get inside my head and make me think that I had been transported to the jungle. There was also this short blonde girl, Kate, that was able to physically shock people with her hands. Having them on our side was a definite advantage but our survival still hinged on Bella being able to control her ability.

I couldn't get my mind off Liz as the sun slowly rose up behind the dark, snow-filled clouds. I knew I was worrying needlessly but I couldn't stop myself from wondering if she was safely inside La Push's borders yet. In fact, a lot of the thoughts I could hear right now were focused on the women waiting for us back at Emily's house. They were quickly erased, though, as we noticed a sickly sweet scent on the breeze coming in from the north side of the clearing. It was the smell of strange vampires. We had familiarized ourselves with the Cullens friends, even though a few of them had hated being so close to us. These two Romanians that looked older than time itself had growled at Paul, almost starting a huge fight. However, most of them didn't seem to mind working with us in order to take down the Italians.

Then it happened. We could see them emerging from the woods on the far side of the clearing, taking the same route the newborns had only six months ago. There were about twenty, all wearing cloaks in various shades of gray. Some of them were huge, their muscles the size of tree trunks, while others looked completely normal. In the center were three older guys holding hands. They must have been almost the same age as the Romanians, their skin had that same paper-thin quality and their eyes were milked over. The one in the middle had long black hair and it was easy to see from the body language of the other two that he was in charge. Next to him was another black haired man that didn't even look like he was paying attention. On his other side was a man with long white hair, who was focused on Bella's daughter. There was a strange mixture of fury and revulsion on his face. It was clear that they were the Volturi from the way the other vampires oriented themselves, forming a protective circle around them. There were others that stood out from the large crowd as well, like the long-haired coward that abandoned his friend after Embry, Quil and Jacob had attacked them. He was walking with a leggy brunette, his face full of hatred as he focused on the three of them. There were also these two kids walking directly in front of the old guys. They were even creepier than I had imagined from all the stories I had heard about them. They looked like they couldn't be older than eleven and were quite obviously twins.

They stopped walking when they were about thirty feet away. The three older vampires came to the front of the formation while their guard stood surveying us warily. I realized that we had surprised them. I could tell from the way they were looking at Edward, Bella, and Renesmee that they were completely surprised to see them, and that it wasn't a good kind of surprise. I don't think they had realized that the Cullens would have their friends there as well. It was strange to see that we outnumbered them when we had all spent so much time preparing for this fight. It was a shock and I had to remind myself that losing still meant certain death, and they didn't exactly need numbers on their side with the abilities they possessed.

Carlisle stepped forward slowly. "Aro, it's been centuries. What a pleasure it is to see you again," he said, as if they were old friends. Jake had told us that Carlisle had actually befriended these jokers in the distant past but they had parted ways over a disagreement in diet. Carlisle had believed that he could live successfully off animal blood while they thought he was foolish for even trying. I still had a hard time wrapping my head around just how old Carlisle really was.

The one in the middle stepped forward, a look of fury on his face. Some of the vampires in the lighter cloaks started to grumble but he only needed to hold a hand up to shut them up. "That's an unusual thing to say, Carlisle, when you've assembled an army here to attack me and my family."

Carlisle shook his head. "That was never my intention, dear friend. All you have to do is touch my hand to find out."

The white-haired vampire moved forward, looking murderous. "How dare you call us friend? Of course you have gathered all these people here to harm us! We need only look at your son to see the reason why." I turned to Edward and saw that he was holding the now-awake Renesmee. "An immortal child, Carlisle? How can you set all these ridiculous rules for yourself and yet break the most important rule of all?"

"But she is not an immortal child," Carlisle replied. "And I have only gathered these people here to witness -"

The white-haired one interrupted him. "We are not fools, Carlisle. We can see the child."

"Please," Carlisle pleaded, starting to sound desperate. It was clear that he wished to clear this all up without any kind of violence. He held his arm out to Aro and stepped forward. The vampires closest to the old guy reacted immediately, growling and crouching down as if they were preparing to attack. Carlisle backed off.

_What the hell are they talking about?_ Brady thought curiously.

_I guess a lot of vampires turned toddlers into bloodsuckers in the past,_ I answered, remembering the story I'd heard from the Cullens. _They couldn't control themselves, though, and these guys outlawed them. Apparently it was a huge problem and these guys killed hundreds of vampires over it._ Edward had mentioned being worried that the Volturi would think his daughter was one of those immortal children and execute the entire family on the spot, without even allowing them to explain.

_Who would want a vampire baby?_ Quil thought in disgust. _No offense, Jake._

_Shut it, Quil_, Jake retorted, his thoughts taking on that authoritative quality that only he and Sam possessed. _Bella said they weren't like Nessie. They were mentally human babies, except they'd never grow up. They couldn't control themselves around humans and these guys thought the secret was at risk of coming out so they made them illegal._

_And it's a good thing they did,_ I added._ Could you imagine having to attack a baby?_

_They'd still be vampires,_ Embry pointed out.

Even so, I think I'd have a hard time dismembering a two year old, even if it was a vampire. And these weren't the only stories we'd heard about the Volturi. They really were like royalty to all of the vampires of the world. Their most important law was keeping their existence a secret and they went to great lengths to enforce it as brutally as possible. Except for this spring, when that redhead had created all of those newborns in Seattle. According to Edward, the Volturi had felt threatened by Carlisle. The size of his family and the abilities they possessed made them nervous so they waited to act. They had hoped that the Cullen family would try to contain them since they lived so close and lose a few, if not all, of their members in the fight. To be perfectly honest, I thought they sounded terrifying. I was glad the Cullens and their friends were here, I don't think the pack would have stood a chance against them alone.

_Of course we would have,_ Paul thought arrogantly. I could tell that he felt insulted by my thoughts.

Aro was holding hands with the white-haired guy. It looked more like they were doing it as a means of communication instead of comfort. It was clear that we had surprised them. Obviously they did not have a psychic among their guard. Finally, they shared a knowing look before Aro took a step forward. "I must say, you have managed to surprise us, Carlisle. Caius had wanted to come out here to observe this strange breed of werewolf before exterminating their entire pack for killing Felix. I had decided to come along to see if I could learn anything about Bella's whereabouts. You see, I was quite curious when your whole family packed up and ran after the wedding, especially since you told Jane that she would be turned immediately following it. I was actually hoping I could speak with Bella's father and see if he has the same blocking ability as his daughter." I noticed Bella stiffen at the mention of Charlie. "I couldn't help but wonder if you were trying to back out of our agreement, Edward. I know how strongly you objected to it the last time we met. And yet here you stand, waiting for us with an immortal child, even though you know they are forbidden." He shifted his gaze back to Carlisle, the look of anger softening. "However, you claim she is something different and since we were such good friends once, I will listen to your explanation before passing judgment."

"Thank you," Carlisle breathed in relief. "That is all I can ask for."

He reached his hand out and stepped forward again but Aro stopped him. "I think I am safe in assuming that this was not your discretion, old friend?" Carlisle shook his head in response. "I think I would rather hear it from Edward. This way I can learn every facet of the truth."

_Can he use Edward's power while he's touching him?_ Jared asked curiously.

_I think so,_ Jacob replied as Edward stepped forward.

He met Aro in the middle of the clearing, where they were both at an equal distance from their families. Edward held his hand out and Aro grasped it. It almost looked like they were about to shake hands, except Aro's eyes were closed and the papery skin on his face was screwed up in thought.

Colin snorted in disgust. _That's so creepy._

_It's not that different from what we do,_ I pointed out.

_He's reading Edward's thoughts, and consequently everything we've ever thought around Edward, as if they were a book,_ Quil retorted. _It's creepy._

I could tell that it was making Bella uncomfortable as well. She kept fidgeting in irritation as Renesmee clung to her back. One of the Amazonian sisters had to tell her to calm down after she actually hissed at the old man. Some of their guard started to get nervous after a while as well.

Finally, Edward looked up at Aro and said, "Do you see?"

"Yes, indeed I do," Aro replied, refusing to drop Edward's hand. "You have given me a lot to think about. This is… not what I had expected. May I meet the child?"

"What is this?" Caius demanded, clearly resenting the fact that he had been left out.

"Something we never would have been able to even dream of, my practical friend. They are telling the truth," Aro answered.

_It's about time they caught on,_ Leah snorted.

Caius hissed in surprise. "What do you mean?"

Instead of answering him, Aro turned to Edward and asked, "May I meet your daughter?" Caius was not the only one to let out a sound of surprise at his words.

Edward turned to Bella and waved her forward, although Aro had still not released his other hand. It was easy to see that Jacob was not comfortable letting Nessie go up there, the long string of curses he was sending at the old man were clear proof. Aro's guard didn't look too happy, either. "Perhaps we should invite a few of our friends out here," Edward suggested. "It will make everyone more comfortable."

Aro nodded in agreement. He snapped his fingers and said, "Demetri, Santiago." He was immediately joined by the long-haired vampire that had tried to attack Liz and a guy that looked bigger than even Emmett. Jacob and Emmett followed Bella as she joined Edward and the Volturi.

"I can hear her heart," he said in wonder, before smiling pleasantly at Bella. "It is great to see you like this, Bella. May I greet your lovely daughter?" Bella frowned as she stepped forward, her muscles tensing up as if she were expecting an ambush. "She's exquisite," he muttered, staring at the child in awe.

_Okay, that is creepy,_ I admitted. Quil snorted in agreement.

Aro smiled as he said, "Hello Renesmee."

"Hello Aro," she answered.

Caius hissed from behind Aro. "What is the meaning of this, Aro?"

"She is half mortal, half immortal," Aro said, not able to tear his gaze from the child. "Conceived so, and carried by this newborn while she was still human."

"But that's impossible," Caius scoffed.

"Do you think they've fooled me?" Aro asked, finally turning to look at Caius in amusement. "Can you not hear her heartbeat or smell the blood in her veins?" Caius looked embarrassed. Aro turned back to Renesmee and continued, "I know you crave justice, brother, and it shall be carried out, but please allow me to learn more about this miracle first."

I felt my muscles tense up at the mention of justice being served. Did that mean they were still planning to attack us, even though we clearly had more people? I could feel this thought rippling through the pack as everyone tried to prepare for an attack.

_Let them try,_ Leah thought, clearly excited at the prospect of fighting.

Aro held his hand out to Renesmee but she shook her head and extended her small fingers toward his face. His guard looked completely shocked as he lowered his head, allowing the child to touch his face. He smiled widely and whispered, "Amazing." Renesmee looked at him curiously as she leaned back in Bella's arms. Aro frowned, actually looked a little disappointed as he said, "I'm afraid that I can not promise that, precious Renesmee. The wolves attacked one of our guard and justice must be served."

"We can't allow you to do that," Edward said.

Caius hissed as he joined them. "How could you align yourselves with these creatures?" he asked scornfully. "The Children of the Moon have been our bitter enemies from the dawn of time. We have hunted them to extinction in Europe and Asia. Clearly, this alliance is meant to overthrow us!"

Edward looked at the white-haired man in amusement while Aro actually looked a little embarrassed by his friend. "It's the middle of the day," Edward pointed out. "They are obviously not Children of the Moon."

"You've bred some kind of mutants," Caius accused.

"They're not even werewolves," Edward replied. "Aro can explain if you don't believe me."

Caius looked at Aro in confusion. "It's true, brother," Aro said. "Although the creatures think of themselves as werewolves, they are not. I think a more accurate term would be shape-shifters. The choice of a wolf form was purely chance. It could have been a bear or a hawk or a panther when the first change was made. These creatures truly have nothing to do with the Children of the Moon. They have merely inherited this skill from their fathers. It's genetic – they do not continue their species by infecting others the way true werewolves do."

_Children of the Moon?_ Brady thought with scorn. _ Could they make it sound any lamer?_

_I wonder what real werewolves were like,_ Jared thought.

_Well, if they were enemies of these guys then I'd say they were probably all right,_ Leah replied.

Caius looked at Aro in annoyance. "They know our secret. That is not acceptable."

"They are creatures of our supernatural world, brother," Aro answered. "Perhaps even more dependent on secrecy than we are; they can hardly expose us. But that matters not. The fact that they killed Felix remains and they must pay for that. If you choose to stand with them then you must suffer the consequences as well." He waved his hand and suddenly the whole guard was standing behind him. I was a little surprised that they were still willing to attack us, especially since we outnumbered them three to one. They must have been very confident in their guard's abilities.

It took only a second to realize that Bella's power was working. The small female child's vicious smile was slowly falling off her face. "I was hoping it would come to this," Bella said. Suddenly, she placed Nessie on Jake's back and then launched herself at the small child.

Chaos broke out then. Jacob took off out of the clearing with Renesmee, wanting to leave her somewhere close by but out of the action so he could join the fight. Edward, Emmett and Rosalie joined her as they all started to quickly dismantle the twins. It was clear that the two of them had never really learned how to fight. Obviously, their abilities had been all they needed for years. Sam, Paul and Jared jumped on one of the larger vampires. Quil and Embry cornered the pretty brunette vampire while Colin and Brady went after another big-muscled one. The other vampires jumped into the fight as well. Leah and I teamed up with Benjamin, the vampire that could control the elements. Aro and Caius retreated back to the other black-haired vampires once they realized that the guard's abilities were not working against us. The three members of the guard that had been standing with Aro followed them. They must have realized they didn't stand a chance against us now. I stopped paying attention to the others after that, instead focusing on the task at hand. Benjamin would manipulate the wind and snow to create a white tornado and then use it to distract the cloaked vampires while we tore them apart. Then the white-haired one yelled, "Stop!" That was when I noticed that Demetri and Felix were holding the arms of one of the blonde women from Alaska.

Fighting came to a standstill, although I can't say there was much fighting still going on. They had been so outnumbered that only a few members of their guard was still standing, the rest scattered in pieces across the clearing. There was even a fire going now, right where those creepy twins had been standing. It was giving off a thick purple smoke, indicating that it was currently burning up a couple of bloodsuckers. The remaining members of the guard scrambled to join them. They slowly backed out of the clearing, using the blonde as a shield. Once they reached the tree line, they tore her in half before fleeing into the forest. Her two sisters screamed in horror before racing to her side. Carlisle joined them, trying to help her venom repair herself.

_Should we go after them?_ Paul asked.

"No," Edward answered. "They're not a threat at the moment, just incredibly desperate." The tense moment was broken by the fallen blonde vampire's gasp, as she finished healing. Then Bella ran to Renesmee and hugged her fiercely, Edward and Jacob joining her only seconds later. "That was amazing, Bella," Edward said after he had thrown his arms around the two of them.

_Those bloodsuckers didn't stand a chance with her around,_ Jacob thought.

"I'm just glad we're all safe," Bella said, sighing happily. Her muscles finally relaxed once her daughter was back in her arms.

Sam was pretty amazed that we had all come through this with our lives as well. There had been so much worry building up that he hadn't expected the fight to be as lopsided as it was. Still, he knew that he had to remain cautious. _Seth, Brady, Colin, I want you three to take the northwest trail back to the rez. Embry, Quil and Leah will loop around and meet you back there. Then I want you guys to patrol the border. Make sure none of those bloodsuckers try to sneak back in. Paul, Jared and I will meet you there soon._

I looked back at all the vampires celebrating, the Cullens right in the middle of it as they all gathered around Nessie, before turning and following my pack into the woods.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

_**Liz's POV:**_

_The three of us turned and watched the front door, wondering what exactly was going on in the clearing._

"Do you think –" Kim started to ask but Emily cut her off, glancing back at Lydia.

"I'm sure everything's fine."

"Right," Lydia said, narrowing her eyes at the three of us. "What's going on?"

"It's the wolves," Emily said, the lie coming easy to her. "The boys have been trying to relocate them further into the forest but they keep coming back."

Lydia looked at the door in worry. "Are those the same wolves that attacked all those hikers last winter?"

"I don't think so," Kim said, which was the truth. Seth had told me it had been a vampire killing all those people around Forks last year. Still, I felt bad for keeping Lydia out of the loop. I'm sure our behavior seemed really strange. I hoped she didn't think that everyone in La Push was completely insane.

"Is it normal for them to come so close?" she asked curiously.

"Not usually," Emily answered. She turned back to the oven, her movements strangely rigid as she scrubbed it clean. Kim turned back to the book in front of her.

Lydia looked between the two of them in alarm before grabbing my arm and pulling me back into the living room. We stood right outside the doorway to the kitchen, Claire and her sister ignoring us as they continued to fight over their doll's outfits. "What's really going on?" Lydia whispered. "And don't say nothing! I can tell that something's wrong."

I shrugged, trying to think fast. "It's just the wolves, Lydia."

"So they are dangerous?" she asked.

"They are wild animals," I pointed out.

She looked at me in concern. "Should I be worried about Brady?"

"No," I said, forcing a smile. "I'm sure everyone's fine." I was just about to suggest that we go back to playing with the girls before they murdered each other Barbie clothes, but I heard the front door open and Emily call out Sam's name.

I quickly turned to see Sam standing in the front door, his huge stature taking over the entire doorframe, with a large grin on his face. "Everything's fine," he said as he walked in the door. Jared, Brady, Quil and Seth quickly followed him.

I hadn't realized how tense I'd been until I saw Seth's face. It felt like I could finally breathe again now that I knew he was completely safe. My nightmares hadn't come true; he had survived the fight. His eyes quickly found mine as he made his way across the room, a huge smile on his face. He threw his arms around me, holding me tightly as he said, "I told you I'd come back to you."

I watched over his shoulder as Brady greeted Lydia with a wide smile and a kiss on the cheek. She gave him a quick smile before whispering, "You have a lot of explaining to do." She pulled him to the other side of the room as Quil joined the two children on the floor.

I turned my attention back to Seth, clinging to him as I said, "I'm so glad you're okay."

"You shouldn't have even worried, Liz," he said. "We outnumbered them almost two to one. And we surprised them. They –"

"Seth," I interrupted him. His voice was carrying across the room and I could see Lydia eyeing him curiously. "Can we go for a walk?"

He seemed to catch on to what I meant. "Sure," he said, grabbing my hand and leading me out the front door.

As soon as we were in the trees, I stopped and turned to him. "They were surprised?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess they had just expected to come out here and wipe out the pack in order to avenge that vampire before looking for Bella," he answered. "They didn't expect the Cullens to be there with thirty of their closest friends."

"So what happened?" I asked, suddenly curious to see if my nightmares had been all wrong in terms of what actually happened in the clearing. Maybe I was only able to predict where and when vampires would show up but not their actions.

"Well, they went back and forth over whether Bella's daughter was an immortal child or not for a while."

"Immortal child? Is that as creepy as it sounds?" I asked.

He nodded. "Vampire babies. Like, real human babies turned into vampires. They'd be stuck as babies, physically and developmentally, for all eternity."

"Okay, that's really weird," I said. "Why would anyone want to have a baby forever?" It didn't make any sense to me. Babies were cute but they were constantly crying and pooping themselves. Who in their right mind would want to change diapers indefinitely?

"Well, I guess they turned older children too. I think it's because vampires can't have kids. Or at least the female ones can't," he said. "Anyways, these Volturi guys outlawed them because the kids weren't very good at keeping their secret. It was a big thing a couple centuries ago and now they just immediately execute anyone in possession of an immortal child."

"But that's not what Renesmee is, right?"

He shook his head. "No, but she does look like one. I know the Cullens had been worried that they wouldn't even stop to listen before they attempted to kill them all. That's why they had all their friends come, so they could witness the fact that Nessie's different."

"That's why they had all those people show up?" I asked. "I thought they were coming to help the pack."

Seth laughed. "Those vampires don't care about us."

I felt a little stupid. Of course they didn't. I remember what Alice had said about her guests, how most of them had quite a different diet from the Cullens, and realized that the pack probably would have tried to kill them if the circumstances had been different. "Well, did they finally believe that she wasn't one of those eternal toddlers?"

"Yeah, eventually. And that's when they mentioned that they were just there to take revenge against the pack," he said. He sounded so casual, as if foreign vampire royalty threatened his life all the time. I rolled my eyes at him as he continued, "It was so cool! Edward was basically just like 'I'm sorry but we can't allow you to do that.'" He tried to imitate Edward's velvety voice and failed spectacularly. "And then all hell broke loose. Bella's power worked so nothing they did affected us while we just tore into them!"

He sounded as if he had had a blast. I was actually starting to feel embarrassed for worrying so much. But then again, I think I'll always be worried when he goes off to protect the area from bloodsuckers, no matter how capable he was. "It was really that simple?"

"I know it sounds surprising but it really was," he replied. "They were totally relying on their abilities to win but Bella stopped them all."

"So everyone's okay?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, one of the Cullens friends got torn in half but she's okay now." It sounded completely ridiculous. _She was just torn in half but don't worry, she's cool now._ I wondered vaguely if someone had slipped me some hallucinogens back at Emily's house. "I can't say the same for those Italians, though. We killed quite a few of their guard."

"Did you get those creepy twins?" I wondered out loud.

He looked at me strangely. "How did you know about them?"

I shrugged. "Dreams."

He bit his lip before pulling me in for a hug. I snuggled up to his chest, glad to be in his arms again. It was still a relief to feel him there, alive and safe. "Did we win against them in your dreams?" he asked quietly. I shook my head and he tightened his grip on me. "Is that why you've been so worried?"

"Of course," I answered.

"Well, I am extremely glad you were wrong," he said, his lips lingering on my forehead.

I laughed. "Me too. But you didn't answer me. Did those creepy kids get the axe or what?"

"Yeah," Seth laughed. "Bella killed the female one herself. It was amazing."

"Good," I said. We stood there for what felt like a long time, simply holding each other. It was all I needed to assure myself that we had made it through this. I suddenly felt a lot more secure in our relationship. I mean, if we could make it through threats from super vampires then I don't think there was much we couldn't handle. True, Seth had done all of the fighting but I like to think that my dreams had helped combat them as well. Finally, I said, "So what happens now?"

He shrugged. "Edward doesn't think that they're going to come back, at least not for now. They lost too many of their guard. They really relied on them to keep control. Edward and Carlisle are actually a little worried about what that meant for the rest of the vampires in the world."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because they were the ones who kept order," he explained. "They made every vampire on the planet follow their rules and keep their secret from humans. The news of them getting beaten is going to spread quickly. Carlisle's not sure how other vampires are going to react once they figure out that the Volturi won't be able to enforce their rules for a while."

"So basically they might decide to expose themselves to the world since these guys can't stop them?" I said. "That doesn't seem like a good thing."

"I don't think they're going to intentionally come out and announce that they're vampires," he replied. "I think it will be more like they won't care if humans start to notice anything strange as they feed on them and fight each other."

"The pack's going to be really busy now, huh?" I asked sadly.

"Probably," he smiled, actually seeming excited at that fact. "But don't worry about anything, Liz. This is probably going to be one of the safest areas of the entire country, with us and the Cullens here."

I held on to him even tighter. It was impossible to worry about that now that he was safe and in my arms.

It was strange, really, how normal life seemed to get after that. I had gotten so used to dealing with one supernatural crisis after the other that the next few week's normalcy was actually quite refreshing. That wasn't to say that I didn't see any of the supernatural beings that had come to occupy my life, though. Alice still stopped by every once in a while to update me on what was happening with the vampires. Bella had finally been able to pull back and stop blocking her powers so she was able to finally watch the Volturi again, although they weren't doing much of anything. According to her, they were hiding in some castle in Italy, trying to act like they hadn't just gotten their asses kicked by a clan of vampires that they deemed inferior simply because they drank from animals instead of humans. She said word of their defeat was slowly spreading through the vampire world, and their friends had left to try and gauge how the other vampires of the world were taking the news. As much as they disliked the Volturi at the moment, they weren't really sure if they wanted complete anarchy in the vampire world.

The wolves weren't quite as worried. Of course, they cared about how the vampires around the world would react but they knew it wouldn't change anything in La Push. They would be around to protect the citizens of the Olympic Peninsula, no matter what. Still, Sam had decided to increase patrols just in case any bloodsuckers were curious enough to come and check out the vampire-werewolf team that had managed to kill the majority of the Volturi's guard. Seth said that he was also worried about the Volturi coming back to take revenge despite the fact that Alice hadn't seen them make any kind of decision. I guess other vampires had learned how to get around her visions before and he was worried that the Italians would do the same.

Things with Emma were improving, although it was very slow going. She didn't flip out like I thought she would when I asked to see someone about getting birth control. Instead, she took me without any complaints, although her face did have this weird pinched look the whole time we were there. And she seemed to have a hard time leaving me alone at all. It was like she thought I would find a way to get syphilis or pregnant in the ten seconds I was alone in a room. Still, she continued to let Seth come over, despite the fact that she watched us closely and got that same pinched look on her face any time we touched.

Even though Emma hated leaving me alone, she still had to work and I was a little too old for the day care that the hospital ran for its employee's children. I was actually a little surprised that she hadn't tried to take time off, considering it was the holidays and everything. Turns out, she didn't like to make a big deal out of Christmas, which I could understand. I imagine things had been lonely the past few years. She didn't get along with her son or her brother so she had spent the past few Christmases alone. She didn't seem to mind, though, because she was able to make a little extra money by picking up as many shifts as she could. She had been worried about me, but I was glad to be alone for the holiday. My father and I were not really religious but we had still celebrated Christmas and it was weird to be spending it without him. I missed our tradition of watching as much of the twenty-four marathon of _A Christmas Story_ as we could before ordering Chinese food. It wasn't much but it was our tradition, not doing it made me feel strangely empty inside. I was sitting on the couch in front of the television, still in my pajamas even though it was the middle of the day and trying not to let myself get too upset when the front door suddenly opened.

"Seth!" I said, looking at him in shock as I quickly ran my hands through my hair. I was suddenly very aware that I hadn't bothered to brush it that morning. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Liz. I know you said you wanted to be alone today but I was worried about you."

"I'm fine," I said quickly, feeling a little ashamed of my behavior. I didn't want Seth to know that I had spent most of the day wallowing in self-pity.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "No you're not," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for telling me how I'm feeling."

"I don't mean it that way," he said. "But I understand. It's my first Christmas without my dad too." I frowned. I always seemed to forget that, which probably made me a horrible girlfriend. He sat down next to me and put his arm around me, pulling me close to his chest. "Being alone is only going to make you feel worse, you know."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling. "If you say so."

He snorted. "Are you really trying to act like you're having a great Christmas?"

"And how long were you watching me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"You're ignoring the question," he said, ignoring my question.

I tried to glare at him, but it was so hard being annoyed with him when I knew that he was simply telling the truth. I was having a pretty crappy day, but I didn't want to admit that he was right. "And I'm assuming that Emily's party was a blast, since you've been lurking outside my house for God knows how long."

"My mom brought Charlie," he frowned. "I don't know. I mean, I'm glad that she's happy but it was just weird seeing them together like that. Not that I haven't seen them together before but…" he trailed off, clearly having trouble explaining how conflicted he felt.

"I get it," I said. "Celebrating Christmas together makes it that much more official." It was a weird way to put it but I figured that celebrating holidays together cemented a relationship. Seth had never really seen her with anyone except his father. I could tell that he wasn't begrudging his mother's relationship with Charlie, but there was a part of him that missed his dad.

"Yeah," he agreed, looking down at me. "Besides, I'd rather spend my Christmas with you."

I couldn't help smiling at that. "Well, I'm glad you showed up."

He grinned at me and my day was instantly better. "Me too." He turned to the television and groaned. "You're watching this too? Embry wouldn't let me turn it off, even though it had been on for hours. It's not even that funny the first time around!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Oh, but that stupid Transformers movie was totally amazing the fifth time you made me watch it."

"Watch it," he laughed. "That movie is a classic. And the only reason I wanted to watch it so many times is because you kept distracting me." I rolled my eyes, it's not like he had been complaining about my distractions at the time, and turned back to the television. "Where's Emma?" he asked curiously.

"Working," I said. "She's working two shifts today, because of the holiday and everything."

"But she won't be home for a while, right?" he whispered, leaning down to kiss my neck.

I sighed, suddenly finding it very hard to concentrate on the movie. "Not until eleven."

I could feel his lips pulling into a smile against my skin. "Nice," he said, moving his lips slowly up to my mouth before kissing me hard. His tongue traced the outline of my lips and I lost all semblance of coherent thought after that, at least until I felt his hands burning my skin as they moved underneath my shirt.

I seemed to lose all control of my body after that. I whispered his name against his lips and laid back on the couch, pulling him down with me. He pulled away to smile that amazing smile at me, and my stomach started doing back flips. It was funny how he still managed to make my heart feel like it was going to burst out of my chest, even after all we had been through. And suddenly it didn't matter if we decided to continue to take things slow or did everything tonight, I just wanted to be as close to him as I could get. I reached up and touched his face, my thumb tracing the line of his cheekbone before pulling his face back down to mine. Of course, the phone chose that moment to begin ringing loudly.

He groaned and buried his face in my neck. "It's probably Emma," I sighed. "She's been calling every couple of hours to check in on me."

"Let me guess, if you don't answer she'll probably leave work and race home to make sure you're alright," he said as he disentangled our limbs and sat up. I hadn't even realized that I had thrown one of my legs over his hip in my quest to get closer to him.

I chuckled. He knew my aunt well. "Probably," I said, getting up to answer the phone.

He groaned again, running his hands through his hair in frustration. I could definitely understand how he felt, it seemed like every time we were starting to get somewhere interesting, the universe would step in and stop us. I guess it was just a further reminder that we weren't ready for that, no matter what our bodies told us.

After assuring Emma that I was absolutely fine for the fifth time, I finally got her off the phone and sat back down as close as I could to Seth without climbing into his lap. However, it didn't get the response that I was hoping for as he continued to stare at the television, a look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.

He didn't say anything, just nodded to the television. It seems that the movie had been interrupted by a special news bulletin. A man with severely bright teeth was saying, "Amanda is on the scene with the latest."

Then the camera switched to an older woman with large blonde hair standing in front of an alleyway, the opening closed off with yellow police tape. "The police are not releasing any information yet, but sources have revealed that the bodies have been mangled in a brutal manner. In fact, they are almost certain that this is the work of the gang that haunted the streets of Seattle earlier this summer."

The anchorman in the studio was back on, looking incredibly grim. "Police were never able to learn much information about this particularly brutal gang, although they believe that it is responsible for the deaths and disappearances of over forty people during the months of March and April. We will keep you updated as we learn more."

I looked at Seth in confusion. "But those murders and disappearances in Seattle… I thought Victoria was behind those."

"She was," Seth replied.

"And the pack killed her," I said, still really confused.

"Technically, Edward killed her," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "So there's no way that she's behind this, right?"

"No," Seth said. "It sounds like other vampires, though. Carlisle said something like this might happen after word got out about the Volturi. I don't think he imagined it would happen this fast, though."

"What are you saying?" I asked, although I was sure that I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Well, it would seem like that they don't care whether or not people catch on to their secret as long as they have enough blood to drink." He sighed and ran his hands over his face in frustration. "This isn't good. I should tell Sam about this. The Cullens have to know too."

"But you just got here," I said, my voice taking on an annoying whiny quality that I wasn't exactly proud of. I didn't feel ashamed, though. I was finding that there wasn't much I wouldn't do to keep Seth safe and away from vampires, even if it was only for a little while. "And it's Christmas."

"I thought you wanted to be alone this Christmas," he said, smiling at me.

"Well, I've changed my mind," I said, pushing him back against the couch and snuggling up against his chest. "I want to be with you. At least watch the end of the movie with me."

"But we already knows what happens!" he protested, although he didn't move. "He gets the BB gun and manages to not shoot his eye out. That's really all you need to know."

I brushed my nose down the side of his neck, trying not to smirk at the way it made him shiver. "Maybe I could find a way to distract you, then."

* * *

**A/N: **Well, that's it! Hope you liked the story. I should be posting the extras I had sent out soon. Once again, I'm sorry it took me so long to finally finish this story. Let me know what you think, if you've managed to make it this far with this story! :)


	26. Extra 1

**Extra #1: Seth's POV of Chapter 2**

I couldn't believe this. Sam was forcing me to go to my mother's stupid dinner now that they were tracking the vampire. He claimed I was too young but I had fought that vampire alone in June.

_Not completely alone_, I heard Paul say in my head. I couldn't stop myself from growling at him. Edward had only taken his arm off, and that was because Bella had stupidly decided to cut her arm up with that rock. If she had realized that I was only pretending to be hurt, I would have taken him out _completely_alone. Besides, I was the one who had found the trail in the first place.

_You know it's too dangerous, kid._Quil thought he was being kind but it was still an insult. I was not a child, even if they insisted on treating me like one.

I was seething as I made my way to Emma O'Brien's house for this stupid dinner. Apparently, her niece had just moved in and my mom said we were supposed to make her feel welcome. Frankly, I didn't really feel like telling a perfect stranger about the area. I was too angry to care at this point. And anyways, I didn't think this Liz was going to feel welcome, no matter what we did. I remembered what it was like, losing my father, and if this girl was anything like me, she wouldn't be feeling much of anything for a while. And I know that if I had been in her situation, I wouldn't even want to be welcome in the town I was being exiled too.

_At least it's free food_, Embry said. Yeah, that was definitely a plus. It was the only upside to this whole thing, in fact.

I had reached the edge of the forest now and I quickly phased and put my jeans on before walking into Emma's backyard. I ran around the house, hoping that none of the neighbors would notice me and made my way to my mother's station wagon. Leah had promised to leave a shirt for me in the back, now I could only hope that she had left it unlocked. I held my breath as I opened the door to the backseat and grinned when I saw that it was open. I grabbed the white t-shirt and hurried towards the door.

I could hear Leah grumbling through the door after I had rung the doorbell. I would have to tell her about the trail we had found some time tonight. I know she would be angry with me if she didn't find out until the next time she phased. Then there was the sound of someone running to the door. I couldn't imagine Leah doing that but then again, she had always hated these dinners at Emma's. My mom and Emma had thought she and Emma's son would make a cute couple and had stopped at nothing in setting them up. It had annoyed both Leah and my father to no end, although I had found it hilarious. Leah and Ben couldn't stand each other (that might have had something to do with the fact that they were always thrown together) so it had been pretty amusing to watch them together.

To my surprise, Emma opened the door. She must have been the one running but I couldn't figure out why. It had been a while since I had seen her so she must have been excited to see me. Actually, I was kind of excited to see her too. Emma was like family. She had really been there for my mother when my dad died and I would be forever grateful to her for that. "Seth!" she said, excited. "I was starting to think you were going to miss my dinner!"

I smiled at her and said, "You know I would never do that, Emma." More like I didn't exactly have a choice. Sam had ordered me to come to this when I had started off on the vampire's trail.

She ushered me into her home. "I swear, you get taller every time I see you." She pulled me into a hug so thankfully she didn't see the face I made. I had gotten taller since I had last seen her, a lot taller. It was all because of the secret that was kept within my tribe, the one that Emma could never know even if she was like family. I was a werewolf, a protector. The Cullens, who were actually vampires (another thing Emma couldn't know since she practically worshipped the ground that Carlisle walked on), had moved into the area and set off the gene that caused certain members of the Quileute tribe to morph into massive wolves when their tempers flared. It was, without a doubt, the coolest thing ever. Unfortunately, I could only share it with those who were already in-the-know. Emma turned to my mom and asked, "You're not feeding him steroids, are you?"

I had to stifle my laugh at the look on my mom's face. I know she felt bad about keeping this from Emma. She didn't really enjoy us being werewolves but she accepted it whole-heartedly. "Of course not," she said. Keeping it from Emma was hard on her since Emma could read her like a book so she tried to laugh it off.

"It's just a growth spurt," I lied, trying to help my mom out.

"Some growth spurt," Emma muttered, and the smile on my face widened. Then she turned to face the corner of the room and gestured for someone to come closer. "Liz, this is Seth, Sue's son. Seth, this is Liz."

And that is when I saw her. She had light brown hair with blonde streaks in it pulled back in a ponytail and the bluest eyes I've ever seen. She had a small, ski-jump nose with a few freckles on it, ears that stuck out and a bottom lip that was a little too big compared to the top one. She was tiny and absolutely _perfect_. It felt like the world had stopped moving in that one second and everything shifted. Jacob had once said that imprinting was something like gravity moves, and I didn't realize how right he had been. It felt like I was drawn to her. She was the only thing holding me here now and if she didn't want me, I would inexplicably float up into space and leave this world behind. I had seen imprinting in the other's thoughts, what it had done to Sam, Jared and Quil but I did not expect it to feel this strong. There was a strange heat flowing through me, one that was so unlike the one I felt when I phased and yet felt so familiar. But this was wrong. I was one of the youngest in the pack… I don't think I should have imprinted yet. I mean, I was interested in girls but I wasn't ready for this kind of love. I heard someone call my name and I shook my head, trying to undo the process I had just gone through. I looked over to my sister for help.

"Let's go get a drink," she said, grabbing my arm and dragging me into the kitchen. Once she made sure the door was shut, she turned around. "What was that?" she asked.

"I think I just imprinted," I whispered, still scared out of my mind. "But that has to be wrong. I mean, I couldn't have imprinted. I'm too young, right?"

Leah eyes narrowed slightly. I knew she wasn't a big fan of imprinting, and for some pretty good reasons too. "I don't think there's some kind of age limit on imprinting, Seth," she said harshly.

I sat down in one of Emma's chairs and sighed. I had never wanted to imprint. I had seen what it had done to Leah, how it had ruined her when Sam imprinted on Emily. And I had seen what happened to Emily and how that had made Sam feel. It was not something I had ever wanted to experience. And now I was screwed. I didn't know what to do or what to say to Liz. I wanted so desperately for her to like me and yet I knew it would be better for her if she didn't. "Oh fuck," I said softly, putting my head into my hands. "What am I going to do?"

Leah was beside me in an instant, her warm hand on my shoulder. "Just talk to her, Seth. Everything will work out. I know it will."

I sighed. "You can't know that, Leah."

"Of course I do," she snapped. "You know as well as I do that _anyone_would have a hard time resisting the amount of love that a wolf has for its imprint."

"But shouldn't she have a choice? Wouldn't I give her one if I really cared about her?"

Leah rolled her eyes at me. "Seth, this is no time to be philosophic. Just talk to her. I'm sure she'll like you, even if you do decide to give her the choice."

"What if I make a total fool out of myself?" I asked, suddenly incredibly nervous.

Leah sighed impatiently. "You'll be fine, Seth. Just go talk to her already!" She grabbed my arm, dragged me out of the chair and then pushed me into the living room. My mom smiled at me before leading Emma back into the kitchen so that I could be alone with Liz. Of course I had to imprint right in front of my mother, as if it weren't embarrassing enough already.

Liz was in the corner, unpacking. I stood there and watched her for a while. I didn't understand how I could be so drawn to her, I was having trouble stopping myself from walking over to her right then and there and putting my arms around her. It felt like I would never feel right again unless she was with me. When Leah had forced me in here, I had kind of wanted to keep on going so that I could leave her life before I influenced it _too_much. It wasn't right to pull her into my world, it was too dangerous for her. But now that I had that opportunity, I couldn't take it. I had to talk to her. I had to have her in my life, much like I had to breathe air to survive. I simply wouldn't be able to leave now, it would be physically impossible. I walked over to her, getting a little bit too close, and said, "Need some help?" I must have surprised her. She jumped and then quickly took a step back. "Sorry," I said, smiling at her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's ok," she said, looking at me warily. She had the cutest blush, it seemed to creep up the back of her neck before coloring her face. And the tips of her ears turned an adorable crimson.

"I'm Seth," I said, holding out my hand. It was more an excuse to touch her than an introduction.

"I know," she laughed, looking down at my hand.

"Oh, right," I said, looking down at my feet. I could feel the blood warming my cheeks. This was just great, I had only just met the girl and I was already making a fool of myself. She must think I'm mentally incompetent.

"So you're from La Push, right?" she asked then. She wasn't looking at me so she couldn't see the grateful smile on my face.

"Yeah."

"Is that far from Forks?"

"It's only like twenty-five minutes away. Fifteen if Leah's driving." She nodded and bit her lip. I couldn't help but wonder how it feel to have that pouty bottom lip under my teeth. I shook my head and said, "So, do you want some help? You've got a lot of books there."

"Sure," she said, smiling shyly at me. I could feel that strange heat again, ghosting its way up my spine when she smiled at me. I knew instinctively that there wasn't much I wouldn't do to make her smile at me again.

I grabbed a book from the box and asked, "Emma said you're from Boston?" She nodded. "That's pretty different from here, huh?"

"Definitely," she said. "Have you ever been there?"

I shook my head and said, "Leah wanted to go to college out there before, to Northeastern." Before she had turned into a werewolf. Now she wasn't supposed to leave the rez until she was able to get it under control. I think that was a big blow to her, she had lost her exit strategy along with Sam. Now she was stuck in La Push, being forced to see him and Emily living happily together every day. "I read all the pamphlets she used to get about the city, you know? It seemed nice."

"It is," she said sadly. "I can't wait to go back."

"You plan to go back?" I asked. This was not good. Now that I had found her, I couldn't let her get away from me. But at the same time, I shouldn't leave La Push until I had stopped phasing.

"As soon as I graduate," she said. "There's no way I can stay here. You can come if you want."

"I think I might." I would have followed her anywhere. "But you know, it's not as bad here as you think."

"I don't believe that."

Emma came then and stood in the doorway to the kitchen. "I see she's put you to work, Seth," she said, smiling at the both of us.

"Yeah," I laughed. "She's a real slave driver, this one." Actually, I hadn't really done much of anything. I had been too caught up in watching her.

"Well, I've come to spring you," she grinned. "Come on, dinner's ready." We followed her into the kitchen and I made sure that I was sitting next to her during dinner. It was perfectly silent and really awkward, actually. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her, no matter how hard I tried and I could tell that she was feeling really uncomfortable.

Once it was over, she slid out of her chair and tried to sneak out of the room and, I admit, I followed her out like some kind of lost puppy. She walked over to two large suitcases by the front door and tried to pick them both up. It was actually kind of amusing because I'm pretty sure they both weighed more than she did. I grabbed both of them before she could hurt herself and carried them up to her bedroom for her. "Wow," she said, smiling at me. "I feel really weak right now."

"You're not," I laughed, although she really kind of was. "I'm just… strong." I know I sounded really stupid but what was I supposed to say? I'm pretty sure she would have kicked me out of her room if I had said '_No, I'm just freakishly strong because of my wolf gene_.'

"Obviously," she said. I dropped her bags in the middle of the room, trying to subtly flex my muscles. It had always worked for Quil when he wanted to impress girls, well, before he imprinted anyways. She laughed at me though and imitated me, flexing her small arms. "The beach is that way," she said, pointing in the wrong direction. I laughed too and then sat back on her bed next to Emma's dog. She sat down in a dark blue armchair across from me and I couldn't stop myself from watching her. I could feel her watching me as well and when I met her pale blue eyes, I had to look away. I could feel the warm blush on neck when she said, "So, what is there to do for fun around here?"

I shrugged. "Hiking is pretty big in these parts."

She raised an eyebrow at me and said, "I wouldn't exactly consider hiking fun."

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her, "I didn't think a city girl like you would. Have you ever even been out in the wilderness before?"

She laughed. "No. I'm not really a fan of the outdoors."

"Are you a fan of the beach?" I asked, trying to figure out what exactly it was that she liked so I could answer her question.

"I guess. Are there some around here?"

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Of course there were, we were in western Washington. The Pacific was only thirty minutes away, at the most. "Yeah, down at La Push."

She smirked at me and leaned forward in her seat. "But how much fun can the beach be when it's constantly raining?"

"Oh come on. You have to try to be a little open-minded."

"I don't know," she teased. "When I think of the beach, I think of warm weather and the sun. I don't really see the appeal of it without those things."

"And the beaches near Boston had those things?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, no, the beaches near Boston were all pretty gross. But the beaches on the Cape did."

I rolled my eyes at her. I didn't know what to say to her when she seemed so determined to hate it here. "Well, what exactly did you do for fun in Boston?"

"My friends and I used to go to Harvard Square or Quincy Market and people-watch," she said, smiling at what must have been some very happy memories. "But my favorite thing to do was hang out on Yawkey Way, you know, that street outside Fenway Park, when the Red Sox were in town."

"You like baseball?" I was shocked at that. Most girls I knew found sports, especially baseball, to be incredibly boring. We talked about baseball then, arguing over stupid things like which league was better. I realized that I would have liked this girl even if I hadn't imprinted on her, which made me feel a lot better. It was good to know that, it made it a lot more bearable.

Leah appeared in the doorway after what felt like only minutes and smirked at me. "Come on, Seth. We have to go."

We followed her downstairs and found Emma and my mom waiting by the front door. "It was nice to meet you, Liz," my mom said, pulling her into another hug. I couldn't believe that I actually felt a little bit jealous of my mother.

"You too," she said, pulling away quickly.

"So we'll see you tomorrow night around seven?" she asked.

Liz looked over to Emma, who nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

I couldn't hide my excitement then. "You're coming to La Push?"

"It looks like it, doesn't it?" she said, smiling back at me.

"That's great!" I said. And then I pulled her into a hug, although I have no idea why. It might have just been because I had wanted to feel her in my arms all night. I was holding her tightly and I couldn't deny how absolutely _right_it felt. It sounds so cliché, even inside my own head, but I felt complete in that moment, like Liz had filled a hole that I hadn't even realized was there. And she smelled so good. She was wearing a perfume that smelled like strawberries and underneath that, she smelled like the rain. It was hands down the best thing I had ever smelt. I let her go quickly though, not wanting to freak her out. "Right. Well. See you tomorrow then." I nodded to Emma and practically ran out the door.

I stopped running when I got out to the car and leaned against the hood. Leah came out shortly after me and said, "Real smooth."

I ignored the urge to hit her and said, "Listen Leah, there was a new trail today. I found it before I got here."

"What?" she asked, looking really annoyed. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

I scowled at her. "It kind of slipped my mind."

"Whatever," she said, shaking her head at me. "Where was it? What did Sam say?"

Our mom walked out the door and smiled brightly at me. "Seth, was that –"

I interrupted her. I didn't really want to talk to my mom about imprinting, especially since it was all so fresh in my mind. I needed time to think about it. "Mom, we found something earlier and Sam wants me to show Leah where the trail was." I felt bad for lying to her but I really wanted to get out of there,

"Alright," she said, nodding at us. "I'll see you two later then."

Leah and I ran into the trees. We tried to stay as far from each other as possible as we stripped down and phased. I could feel Quil, Paul and Jared in my head then. _What are you two doing?_ Paul asked. Once he read my intentions of showing Leah the new trail, he groaned. _I thought Sam told you to stay away from there, kid._

_Fine_, I thought back at him. _You show her then._I took off in the direction of La Push, needing to run so I could clear my head.

They all read what had happened at Emma's then and suddenly I could hear the three of the cheering. _Looks like you're a man now_, Quil thought, joking around. I rolled my eyes and tried to push them as far out of my head as I could as I ran.

* * *

**A/N:** These are the extras I sent out a couple times as a thanks to all the wonderful people that reviewed. I mostly used them as ways to get into other character's heads. Now that the story's over, I might as well share them with everyone :) Hope you enjoyed it!


	27. Extra 2

**Extra #2  
**

**A/N: **Someone had mentioned that they'd like to see a jealous Seth and I decided to give it to them :) Haha. This takes place during Chapter Seven.

* * *

I don't know what I had been expecting really. Liz had claimed she had wanted to know everything about me, and I had known she was starting to get suspicious about what was going on here in La Push. Maybe I had hoped she would react like Bella had. When Jake had told Bella that he was a werewolf, she had accepted it right away. In fact, the only problem she had had with it was that she thought the werewolves were murdering innocent people. When she found out that the pack had actually been trying to save the people who had fallen victim to some not-so-friendly vampires, she was perfectly fine with it. She even enjoyed it, claiming to be a wolf-girl like Emily was.

_Bella had already known about vampires,_Leah thought in my head, her voice hard. She didn't particularly like Bella, mostly from the fact that she was all Jacob could think about even now, and she really didn't like it when she was brought up. And she was already pretty pissed at me right now. She didn't think I should have told Liz so soon, and I definitely shouldn't have just showed her like that. I guess she was right… it was better to introduce her slowly to my world of myths and legends instead of pushing her right in head first. But she had asked me point-blank about it and I couldn't have just lied to her! It wasn't even a question of I had wanted to, it was almost physically impossible for a wolf to lie to its imprint. I would have had a better shot at directly disobeying one of Sam's orders.

_So? That doesn't matter_, I disagreed. _Emily and Kim didn't react this way._ I whimpered softly again as I watched Liz through the trees. _I mean, look at her! She looks like she's one step away from a mental breakdown!_Jake had just told us to get lost but I couldn't leave her now. She was sitting on the forest floor with her head between her knees, breathing heavily and her skin had a greenish tint to it. Jake was right, she did look like she was about to lose her lunch.

_Emily and Kim grew up with our legends, idiot,_Leah said.

_And what does that have to do with anything?_I asked. I was really wishing Leah would just go away. I didn't need her condescension right now on top of everything else. It was bad enough that she was here, watching Liz freak out over something that I had done.

_So, they've been exposed to the legends for a long time,_ Leah thought at me. I could tell she was trying to sound nicer now, although she still thought I was an idiot. _They didn't think it was _that_ strange because they'd heard all of the legends. The only thing Liz knew about werewolves was all that stupid crap Hollywood's been putting out. You know, full moons, silver bullets, enjoys the taste of human flesh. It's no wonder she was freaked out. She probably thought you were going to try to bite her and turn her into one too._

Leah was right but I just didn't want to admit it. I knew I had handled it badly but I hadn't quite realized that it was that bad until right then. I watched as Jacob tried to pat her on the back and I started growling before I could control myself. There was an entire ocean of jealousy flowing through me, it was white hot and I could only just stop myself from going out into the small clearing and challenging Jacob to a fight. Why should he be the one that gets to comfort her? That was supposed to be my job! He shouldn't even be touching her right now. It was completely illogical and yet I was literally seeing red.

_Easy, Seth_, Leah said. _You can't go out there right now, you'll only freak her out more._

_Ugh! Go away, Leah!_I thought at her. I didn't want her here right now. I didn't want my sister to see how much Liz's reaction hurt me. And I definitely didn't want her to see how jealous I was of the fact that Liz was letting Jacob talk to her right now even though she had already guessed that he was one of us too. I knew she was going to need time to talk to me again, if she ever did again, and I was having a hard time dealing with that. Why would she talk to Jacob but not me? Didn't she know that I would do anything to make her feel better, even if it meant never phasing again? I was actually glad when she shrugged him off. She wouldn't let him comfort her. That shouldn't make me feel better; she was beyond freaked out and needed someone there for her and I obviously couldn't do it. But it didn't have to be Jacob, either.

_You know I can't. I have to make sure you don't do anything stupid._ What a comfort my sister was. _I'm not trying to comfort you, Seth. I know you're hurting but you brought this on yourself._ I turned and growled at her, ready to bite her. I probably would have too if Jake and Liz hadn't started walking back in the direction of Emily's house. I followed silently after them and I heard Leah sigh impatiently. _Come on, Seth. Let's just get out of here. We can go check out the new trail._

_Sam doesn't want me out there_, I said. Besides, there was no way I was going to leave Liz right now. Even though she didn't want me around, I had to make sure that she was okay. I followed them silently through the woods and was glad when Jacob had to take off to get his car. I was hoping that Emily would come out and talk to Liz. Maybe she could make her see that I wasn't some kind of monster. Luckily, Emily must have heard them because she came out and sat down next to her.

I was across the lawn, hidden in the trees, but I could still hear what they were saying. Thank God for werewolf hearing. "Liz? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Liz said, staring straight ahead. No one would have ever believed her, though. She looked like she had just seen… well, a werewolf, I guess.

Emily stared at her and somehow figured out what was going on. She sighed and said, "Seth told you, didn't he?" Liz nodded. "I know it seems a little weird – "

Liz interrupted her. "_A little _weird? Really?" I snorted at that. Liz was right, this was more than just a little weird, that was for sure.

Emily pursed her lips, probably a little annoyed. She didn't need anyone to tell her exactly how weird this was, she had been living it for over a year now. And she actually knew the whole story too. "Okay, maybe it's more than a little weird but… he's still the same Seth he was before, Liz. And I know that you cared about that Seth a whole lot just an hour ago." Oh man, I really owed Emily for saying that. I would have to remember to thank her later. Liz didn't say anything, though, and I felt my heart break a little bit when I realized that she didn't agree with Emily at all. This was awful. Jacob pulled up then, which was good because I really didn't think I could take anymore.

Leah, who had been standing silently next to me, spoke up then. _Are you ready to get out of here now?_I could feel her pity and I didn't want it. All I wanted to do right now was run and maybe take my aggression out on a couple of vampires.

_Yeah_, I replied. I turned and ran towards the new trail that Sam had picked up earlier. It was definitely strange. I had always thought that being a werewolf was kind of cool but now… now I just wished that I could be normal again.


	28. Extra 3

**Extra #3**

**A/N: **Someone asked for an extra of Seth's POV from a certain moment in Chapter 9, so here it is!

* * *

I had been absolutely miserable ever since telling Liz that I was a werewolf. I had been moping around and basically annoying the crap out of everyone in the pack. Quil, Embry and Brady had finally had enough and dragged me to Port Angeles to see a ridiculous horror movie. We were on our way to get some food (or more truthfully, buy practically all of the food in the store) when we ran into Liz and a couple of her friends from school. Seeing her was like taking a knife to the heart; the moment she noticed me, she turned around and tried to run off in the opposite direction.

I really don't know what came over me. Maybe it was the fact that I didn't really know when I would see her again, especially since she had been avoiding me. "Liz!" I called out, hurrying after her. "Liz! Wait up!"

"Oh no," she muttered and I felt my heart break a little more. She must think I was stalking her or something. Then she turned to face me and forced a smile. "Hi Seth."

I drank in the sight of her, incredibly grateful to see her again. "Liz, how are you?" I asked.

"The same, really," she shrugged. So she hadn't changed her mind about anything we had talked about before.

Maybe I should take Leah's advice and try to explain things to her, familiarize her with the legends so she wouldn't think it was quite as freaky. "Look, can we please talk?"

"Seth, I don't really think that's such –"

But I couldn't let her say no. I didn't want that argument in the woods to be our last conversation. "Please, Liz? Just let me explain. And then you can go back to avoiding me all you want, I promise."

She stared at me for a moment and I felt my stomach flip over as I looked into her pale blue eyes. Apparently, she found what she was looking for on my face because she turned to her friends and said, "I'll meet you guys at the movie theater, alright?"

"Right," the dark-haired one smiled. "See you then." She grabbed the hand of the blonde-haired girl and pulled her in the opposite direction.

"Oh, so now we're going to the movie?" the blonde muttered. She smirked and mouthed something I couldn't make out to Liz.

Liz turned to me and said, "Alright. Let's talk about this." I gave her a small smile, completely overjoyed by the fact that she was going to listen to me. I could only hope that this would go a lot better than the last time we had talked about the Quileute magic. She flinched away from my hand and I felt my whole face fall. Maybe I was being a little too optimistic about her staying open-minded. "Well?" she said, looking warily at the guys behind me.

"Come on," I said, turning abruptly and walking in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?" she said. She had to jog to keep up with my long strides.

"If this is my last chance to talk to you, I don't want an audience," I said. Especially since the guys would have no trouble hearing every word we said. And I didn't want to have to relive this every time they thought about it. I led her to an out-of-the-way empty bench on the boardwalk, although it didn't really matter. There were no tourists around to overhear our conversation. I didn't start speaking right away, I took the time to look her over. Her mouth was turned down into a frown, like she wished she was anywhere but here, and I felt the tear in my heart grow.

Finally, she broke the silence by asking, "So… are you going to explain? Or are you just going to sit there and stare at me?"

I sighed and looked down at my feet, not wanting to see the look on her face as I told her the old Quileute legends. "I guess I should start with the old legends." I nervously ran my hand through my hair and told her everything, the legend of Taka Aki and Utlapa, the legend of the Cold Woman, how I had changed into a werewolf, and even about imprinting, mentioning what happened to Leah so that she would know that it wasn't always a pleasant experience.

"Does everyone imprint?" she asked once I had finished telling her about Sam, Emily and Leah.

"We don't know," I said. "Our legends always said it was rare but almost half of the pack has imprinted now."

"Have you?" she asked quietly. I sighed and rubbed my forehead, dreading her reaction to what I was about to say. If she had flipped out when I told her about the wolf gene, I could just imagine how she would react when I told her that I would be forever linked to her now because of that genetic mutation. "Oh, sorry. Was that too personal?"

"No," I said, deciding to tell her the truth. I didn't want to keep any more secrets from her. "I just… hoped I wouldn't have to tell you about this part of it yet. I didn't want you to freak out again."

"I'll try not to," she said, smiling weakly at me.

I tired to smile back at her but I'm not quite sure that I succeeded. "Do you remember how weird I acted when we first met?" She nodded and I continued, "That's because I… well, I imprinted… on you." Her mouth dropped in what I could only assume was horror. "No, Liz, it's okay. Nothing ever has to happen between us. I won't pressure you into anything, I promise. I can leave you alone for the rest of your life if you want." Even though it would impossible to be without her, I would do it if she asked me.

I was completely shocked when she placed her small hand on my face. "I don't want you to leave me alone," she said.

My heart was racing and my breathing sped up, even though I was trying not to get my hopes up. "What are you saying?"

"Look, I'm still a little freaked out by this whole wolf thing, but I don't want you out of my life entirely. Honestly, I've been pretty miserable this week without you."

"Me too," I said, smiling down at her.

"We're just going to have to go slow with all the werewolf stuff, okay?" she said. I nodded, understanding that it would take her time to completely accept all of it. But she took me by surprise when she placed her hand on the back of my neck and pulled my face down to hers. Her lips were soft and gentle on mine. She was completely invading my senses but still, I wanted more. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her onto my lap so that I could feel her almost everywhere. Her hands were tangled in my hair and I was gasping for breath when someone cleared their throat behind us. She pulled away instantly, the red blush rising on her neck. I could feel my cheeks getting warm too; I was embarrassed that I had been so wrapped up in her that I hadn't even heard them walking up.

"Well, now I can see why you decided to skip the movie," the blonde one said, smirking at the two of us. The dark-haired one was having trouble holding in her laughter.

"Right," I said, feeling incredibly awkward. I lifted her off of me and placed her back on the bench. "Well, I should go."

"Yeah," the blonde one said. "We're going to have to leave now if I'm going to get back before my curfew." The dark-haired one burst into laughter then. This was so embarrassing, getting interrupted and then laughed at by a total stranger. Suddenly, I was worried about how Liz was feeling. She had wanted to take things slowly and yet we had been moving pretty quickly there. I didn't want her to regret it because it had been one of the best kisses I had ever had (not that I had a whole bunch to compare it to).

She avoided looking at her two friends as she got up and said, "Call me tomorrow?"

"Of course," I said. I hadn't expected this to happen, for us to move past our problems so quickly, but I was simply overjoyed that it had. I couldn't stop myself from kissing her again, gently this time, before turning to her two friends. "It was nice meeting you." And then I turned and ran down to where I knew my friends would be waiting for me, unable to wipe the smile off of my face.


	29. Extra 4

**Extra #4**

******A/N: **This takes place after Chapter 12.

**Jacob's POV**

I couldn't believe that I was doing this again. It felt like I had spent the past eleven months chasing after Bella Swan and now here I was, after I'd sworn that I'd stop, trying to find her in this frozen tundra. I know I had told her that I was a sucker for lost causes but this was officially crossing the line into pathetic. Not that I was really expecting to find _Bella_, anyways. She must be a vampire by now; I doubt she would have waited long after that sham of a wedding. And I wasn't even sure I wanted to see her. I didn't want to remember her like that, all cold and marble, when I much preferred the clumsy, rosy-cheeked girl I had fixed motorcycles with. But the Cullens had experience with these Italian bloodsuckers and they might know how to get them out of Forks. I could go through with this if it meant keeping everyone safe.

Sometimes doing the right thing really fucking sucked.

However, it would be nice to find out what the hell she was thinking by sending me those blank postcards. It's not like I didn't know they were coming from her, she was the only person I knew who would ever want to go to Alaska. It was almost as if she wanted me to find her, although I couldn't figure out why. She chose Edward and the bloodsuckers and I really wished she would stop shoving that in my face. And to be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if I would be able to stop myself from attacking the Cullens once I saw her, the girl I loved so much, as one of them. It didn't matter that Sam had put down an injunction stating that the Cullens were not to be harmed, I was pretty sure I would be able to break it if it came to that. I tried to push those thoughts from my mind, just in case her mind-reading bloodsucker was nearby.

I had been in Alaska for almost five days, searching for the Cullens, but they knew the best ways to stop anyone from finding them. I had to wonder if this was why the Italians were in Forks, the Cullens had known they were coming and hid away like a bunch of cowards, forcing the Italians to look for them at their last known address. I couldn't see Bella condoning this, though. I mean, her father still lived in Forks! There's no way she would want to put him in harm's way, especially after what her rushed wedding had done to him. She couldn't have changed _that_ much. And then finally, after scouring the hidden corners of the Denali National Park for what felt like the twentieth time, I finally came across the sickly sweet scent of a vampire. It was foreign, not one that I had ever come across, but I decided to follow it anyway, hoping it would lead me to the Cullens.

It was a faint scent, but it got stronger the longer I followed it, leading me to a giant house. I think it was supposed to look like some kind of log cabin, the outside was composed almost entirely of dark wood, but it was simply too large to be anything but a mansion. There were two large windows that seemed to take up most of the front of the house, their light spilling out onto the snowy front lawn. Something white blurred across one of the windows and I knew then that I had the right house.

Before I could phase back into my human form, the front door opened and three vampires stepped out. I recognized Edward instantly as he took the point, but I didn't know the other two that fell into place behind him. One was tall and lean with a faint hint of an olive complexion underneath his pale skin. The other was a woman who was simply gorgeous, if you were into the undead. She was kind of short, with wavy strawberry blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. They both had the same topaz eyes as the Cullen family, which must have meant they were also "vegetarians," and they did not look welcoming at all. Their lips were pulled back over their teeth as they looked me over. Edward glared at me as he asked, "What are you doing here, Jacob?"

I would have rolled my eyes at him if I could. Did he really think that I had come all this way, by myself, to fight him?

"I wouldn't put it past you," he answered.

_If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already,_ I thought at him, not even trying to keep the bitterness out of my thoughts. _You and your little flunkies wouldn't have been able to see me coming._ I thought back on all the fantasies I'd entertained over the summer, while I'd tried to forget about him, Bella and the invitation I should have never received. I pushed them out of my head quickly when Edward stiffened. The other two picked up on his body language and they both let out a small hiss. _Will you call them off? I just want to talk._

Edward made a face, as if he would like nothing more than for me to leave and never come back. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose before he asked, "What do you want, Jacob?"

_Really, I just want to talk,_ I thought. _There were these Italian bloodsuckers in Forks and the pack thought –_

Edward interrupted me, which was actually pretty rude. "Wait, what Italians?" Instead of saying anything, I replayed the memory of finding the scent with Quil and Embry and following it to the road that lead out of town, where we found the two vampires cornering Liz. Edward broke me out of my thoughts when he said, "That's Demetri and Felix."

The man behind Edward stiffened. "The Volturi? What about them?"

Edward ignored him. "They're in Forks?" I nodded as best as I could. The other two vampires looked alarmed by this. Edward sighed, "Why don't you come inside, Jacob?" Then he turned to the woman on his right and said, "Go find Carlisle. He should hear this. But… someone should stay out there with Bella. I don't know if she'll be able to handle this." She nodded and took off into the forest.

I was confused. I didn't know if he meant she wouldn't be able to handle seeing me, or seeing me without trying to eat me. I found that I didn't really care to find out, either. I didn't want the image of Bella as a vampire to mar the memories I had of her as a human. Edward, who had been on his way inside, turned to look at me one more time, an unreadable expression on his face. He turned and walked into the house before I could make any sense of it. I couldn't help but wonder if this was a bad idea as I phased back into my human form and pulled my shorts on.

The house was just as elegant inside as it was outside. The dark wood made up the high ceiling of both the foyer and the living room I followed Edward into. The whole room was as white as the snow outside, from the paint on the wall to the plushy carpet under my feet and the couches and chairs that were scattered around the room. The room was full of vampires, ones I recognized as part of the Cullen family and others that weren't. The short, black-haired fortune teller was sitting with her blonde husband. She was looking at me in interest while her blonde counterpart wrinkled his nose. The gorgeous blonde was looking at me in disgust while her burly, curly-haired boyfriend simply looked like he was ready for a fight. The olive-skinned man was there as well, sitting next to a woman with a similar complexion. There were also two woman who looked a lot like the strawberry blonde, one had dark black hair that contrasted against the white blonde of the other. They were sitting close to each other and I couldn't help but notice the way they were eyeing me, almost as if they appreciated what they saw. I was torn from their staring when the blonde Cullen asked, "What is he doing here, Edward?"

"We should wait for Carlisle," he said.

I could feel the tension building in the room and I didn't feel like sitting in it until Dr. Fang arrived. "These Italian bloodsuckers are looking for you."

Edward shot me an exasperated look and said, "The Volturi need to speak with us, apparently."

The fortune teller's boyfriend looked alarmed by that. "Are you sure it's them?"

Edward nodded. "It was Demetri and Felix."

Dr. Carlisle Cullen walked into the room them, silencing all conversation. I noticed that the strawberry blonde didn't return with him as he said, "What's going on? Tanya said the Volturi are in Forks?"

Edward nodded before turning to me. "What happened when you found them? Did they say anything?" I shook my head, briefly remembering the words they spoke in Italian before we attacked. Edward inhaled audibly and asked, "You attacked them?"

Frankly, I wasn't shocked by the fact that Edward thought we should have just let the vampires kill Liz. I already knew that the vampires didn't care much for humans, preferring to just see mortals as cattle raised for consumption. I could tell that he was annoyed with me because he didn't let me say anything. Instead, he explained, "I didn't mean it like that. By attacking them, you just guaranteed that the guard would come back with even more vampires that could completely decimate the entire town if they wanted to. It would have been better for the entire pack if you just let them kill the girl."

I felt my temper rising with those words. "We couldn't just let them kill a member of the pack!"

His brow scrunched up in confusion. "A member of the pack? I thought –"

I cut him off. "Imprints are considered a part of the pack."

An awkward silence filled the room. Dr. Fang diffused it quickly by saying, "I assume you know what they were doing in Forks."

"We're pretty sure they were looking for you."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"They mentioned you to Liz, the girl they tried to attack. And their scent was all over the woods near your place… including your home. Actually, they kind of tore it apart." I thought back to the way the house had been, the furniture ripped apart and the pieces scattered throughout the house.

He sat in a thoughtful silence for a moment. "Do you know what they said to her?"

I shook my head, recalling how messed up Liz had been once we killed the big vampire. I didn't get to say anything, though, because Edward spoke up once again when he heard my thoughts, "You killed him?"

"We had to," I said, glaring at him. _And get out of my head._

The rest of them were looking at us in annoyance, obviously not enjoying the fact that they were missing part of the conversation. "They killed Felix," he said, probably answering the question that was filling their minds. They all looked alarmed and yet oddly impressed. The big muscled one looked almost put out, as if he wished he could have been there to take part in the fight. Then Edward asked, "What happened to Demetri?"

"The long-haired one?" I asked. "He ran off like a coward." Edward's expression became pained. "What?" I was becoming more annoyed with him by the second. Maybe coming to alert the Cullens hadn't been such a great idea after all.

"Demetri's a tracker." He sighed in annoyance at the confused tenor to my thoughts. "He can find a person anywhere in the world once he has gotten a look inside their mind."

It felt like someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water on me. "So these Volturi are gifted?"

The blonde-haired male – what was his name again? Jackson? – spoke up. "They are the most talented of our kind. The Volturi choose only the vampires with the best gifts to join their guard.

Well, that was just great. It felt as if my worst fears had just been confirmed. I had confidence in the pack's ability to take on a group of vampires but I wasn't delusional. I knew that we wouldn't stand a chance against a group of gifted bloodsuckers, especially if they had what was considered to be the best gifts in the vampire world. I was ripped out of my fear-induced despair by Edward. "What is she doing? She knows she can't come in here…" he trailed off before getting up and racing out of the house at a speed that blurred before even my eyes.

I could hear it then too. A soft, almost musical voice was stubbornly saying, "I don't care! If Jacob's here then I need to see him!" Her voice was strange, almost unfamiliar, but I knew it was Bella. And I felt it again, the strange pull that, while nothing like the pull of an imprint, led me to her every single time she was near. It didn't matter that she was a vampire, or that she might possibly be so out of control that she would try to suck even my blood, I just had to see her. I found myself almost unconsciously getting out of my seat and following Edward's path out the front door to the snowy lawn. I guess you could call it a morbid curiosity but now that I could literally feel Bella near me, I had to see if she was happy with the life she had chosen, the one I had let her choose when I ran away from it all last summer.

She was standing half way between the forest and the massive house. I could smell her, although it was different in the wrong kind of way, and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The sun was barely shining through the clouds and yet I could see it reflecting off her marble skin. It felt as if I had been kicked in the chest. She was not _my_ Bella anymore; Edward had made her completely his. I thought I had been prepared but it felt like my heart was breaking all over again at the sight of this, the final nail in the coffin of what Bella and I had once had.

She was still stubbornly trying to get to the house despite the efforts of Edward and the vampire with the reddish blonde hair. At least I knew that there were some vestiges of the old Bella in there somewhere, although it did not lessen the pain I felt. I was about to turn around and go back inside, no longer interested in seeing this new Bella, when I saw _her_ for the first time. She stepped out from behind Bella's legs, curious as to what her parents were arguing about. And she was so obviously Bella and Edward's child, even though she looked three years old and I knew that was simply impossible. And then she turned to stare at me, her small hands pushing her curly bronze-colored hair out of her face. One look into those chocolate brown eyes, so much like her mother's, and I was falling with no hope of ever hitting the ground. It was like I had tunnel vision and all I could see was her. Then there was a strange roaring noise – where was that coming from? – and something ran right into me, managing to knock me off my feet before I even noticed it coming.


End file.
